What comprises core strength

Posted on February 25, 2010 by violetquartz

Your core is more than just your abdominal muscles. Indeed your abdominal makes up the majority of the core; with the rectus abdominus, external and internal obliques and the transverse abdominus. Your lower back and glutes; maximus, medius and minimus also contribute to your core stability. DO not forget that the top of your quads and hamstrings also play a part.

There is a difference between core exercises and ab exercises. The former works these muscles in unison strengthening them as they work together (more functionally driven strength), the latter works the ab muscles itself, which is necessary to be able to maintain form in core exercises. Both are important in overall stability and strength.

And example of a core exercises is a plank, where as an ab exercise is a crunch.

On perspective

Posted on February 23, 2010 by violetquartz

I recieve these wonderful daily emails nad today I wanted to share it with you:

A few words on perspective:

In all of time and space, there is no challenge, pothole, mountain, chasm, hurdle, or foe larger than you. Not even close. Although if all you use to size them up are your physical senses… good luck!

Tallyho,
The Universe

To receive emails from the universe sign up here.

When the sun is shining….

Posted on February 21, 2010 by violetquartz

Get out there and get active! Enjoy our beautiful Squamish weather.

Understanding food labels…

Posted on February 19, 2010 by violetquartz

Proper nutrition and heart health go hand in hand. It is important to have a diet low in saturated fat and sodium. Include high fiber foods, and healthy fats. Get enough protein and vitamins. Do you know how to read a food label?

To learn how, or refresh your skills check this website out.

With glowing hearts

Posted on February 17, 2010 by violetquartz

The olympics are in full swing we are inundated with snippets from our nation anthem; what an inspiring time. I was fortunate to get to go to the cross country event this week: the phrase “with glowing hearts” form our national anthem kept popping up on the large display. It is interesting because I found that it really speaks to the connection between the mind, body, and soul. If our heart are glowing then our bodies feel strong, we are connected and ready to give it our all. It is a great way to cheer on our athletes. What I have found in my personal training practice is that if our hearts are not glowing, if we are having a difficult day, our bodies are not strong. At such times it is important to listen to our bodies, it is not the time to push ourselves, rather it is the time to heal ourselves. And when it is time to give it our all, our best, go for gold with a glowing heart.

Trust the process

Posted on February 14, 2010 by violetquartz

If you you have ever worked with me you know that I often tell people to be patience and trust the process. If you are meant to go in a certain direction in life what you need will be brought to you. By no means do this exclude taking responsibility for your life and working towards what you dream, but more so that the little things will take car of themselves and opportunities will be placed before you.

So take control of you life, do what you can and trust that you will get what you need, it may not always be what you want, but usually it is what you need. We do not always know what is best for ourselves in the big picture.

Keep your eyes peels and ears perked there are exciting changes happening in the next two months! It has been confirmed; the world is a beautiful and magical place!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Latest research

Posted on February 12, 2010 by violetquartz

As we get we lose cardiovascular endurance because the physiological processes in the body breakdown. New research has shown that these changes are not necessarily due to chronological age and the breakdown on enzymatic reactions as the cellular level, but rather in increase in physical inactivity and abdominal fat. The good news is that in this study elderly participants we able to affect changes in their maximum cardiovascular function as effectively as younger participants.

The good news is it is never too late to derive health benefits from regular physical activity and exercise, so get out there and get moving!

Heart Health

Posted on February 10, 2010 by violetquartz

We are what we eat, thus what we put in our bodies inevitable become part of its structure, and like I said before structure determine function.

Did you know that fat is absorbed into the body differently than proteins and carbohydrates (CHO)? When CHO and proteins are broken down and absorbed in the small intestine they are carried through the heptatic circulatory system to the liver to filter out unnecessary by-products. Fat however due to its water phobic nature is absorbed into your lymphatic system (mirrors your circulatory system, used in immunity, lymph: the clear part of blood). The lymphatic system drains into the circulatory system at the superior vena cava. If you perused the anatomy of the heart you would know that the superior vena cava is where de-oxygenated blood from the upper body enters the heart to be pumped to the lungs. The implications of that are: THE FIRST PLACE FAT GOES IN THE BODY IS YOU HEART!!!!! And since our cells take what they need to repair, and build form circulating CHO, proteins, and fats, it means your heart is getting first pick of unhealthy fats. Terrifying.

It also explains why eating processed food, which are high in fat (the bad and terrible kind) impacts immunity. Your lymph is a drainage system for your immune system and unwanted thing circulation in your blood. if it is saturated with fat, it increase the work of your lymph nodes, deceases their effectiveness at fighting off disease.

Next time you reach for that chip, chicken wing, or cookie… think about what it would look like in your heart… you may reconsider.

Sometimes laughter is all you need….

Posted on February 8, 2010 by violetquartz

WARNING: the following link is crass, but funny none the less. View at your own risk.

Awkward workouts

Stretching: new research

Posted on February 6, 2010 by violetquartz

A new study (Batista LH, Vilar AC, Ferreira JJA, Rebelatto JR & Salvini TF) has be published on the effect of stretching and it impact on fitness, specifically in application to older adults. Here is a brief overview of the important factors:

Deficits in muscle strength and range of motion are common in older adults but not to exclusive to, due to a decrease in overall flexibility. Reduced flexibility is generally caused by shortening and increased rigidity of muscles. These viscoelastic changes in muscle fibers have deleterious functional consequences, such as aberrant gait patterns, and hampered ability to rise from a seated position, leading to a greater incidence of falls and loss of independence.

Stretching is an exercise performed in clinical settings and physical fitness facilities used to increase range of motion. Research has shown that stretching can cause morphologic change in muscle fibers and connective tissue, ultimately leading to an increase in overall muscle strength.

Previous studies have shown that similar results can occur after a stretching intervention implemented every day for 6 weeks straight. This study showed that flexibility training twice a week for 4 weeks is as efficient as a 6 week training protocol

According to this group of researchers, it is conceivable that stretched muscles are stronger because both passive and active forces add to strength production. Previous research concluded that the increase in stored energy and ranges of motion after stretching is important because it can increase the elastic recoil capacity of a muscle. However, this notion is not completely agreed upon in the fitness industry.

Regardless, stretching is a vital component of fitness, equally so as cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength, which not only has benefits in its own right but improves all component of fitness.