The Encore Fitness Blog Resources and information from top Las Vegas personal trainers, fitness and dietary experts. Carol Strom.

June 6, 2012

Silver Yoga Improves Fitness in Seniors

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While the benefits of performing yoga have long been discussed, it can often be an intimidating form of exercise to try. Some people picture a studio full of perfect-looking twenty-somethings who can contort their bodies into all kinds of interesting positions. Some people are afraid they might look silly if they don’t know what to do or they are simply afraid of injuring themselves if they try to bend this way or that.

As most people age, they start to lose balance and flexibility, among other indicators of physical fitness, making it even less likely that they would attempt an activity like yoga that involves stretching and holding poses for certain lengths of time. Recently a group of researchers in Taiwan developed a type of yoga exercise program that they’ve named “silver yoga.”

This program, developed by Chen, Tseng, and colleagues (2), consists of four phases:

  1. 20 minute warm-up of eight poses to loosen up the body;
  2. 20 minutes of hatha-style yoga in which seven gentle stretching postures are performed;
  3. 10 minutes of relaxation in which three activities to rest the body are performed; and
  4. 15 minutes of guided imagery to facilitate relaxation.

This program was critically reviewed by experts in the fields of yoga, elderly exercise, geriatric nursing, geriatric physical therapy, osteopathy, sports physiology, sports medicine, and/or sports injuries (2).

In a study published in Nursing Research, Chen, Fan, and colleagues (1) studied a group of 55 participants aged 65 or older who participated in 24 weeks of a three time per week silver yoga exercise program. Measures of body composition, cardiovascular-respiratory function, flexibility, muscular power and endurance, balance, and agility were taken before the study began, at twelve weeks, and at 24 weeks.

At the end of the study, participants in the silver yoga group had significantly reduced body fat percentage, decreased respiration rate (indicating that the exercise took less effort, and improved shoulder range of motion (right shoulder abduction) compared to their pre-silver yoga measurements (1). Additionally, the silver yoga group had improved in all measured physical fitness categories when compared to the control group at the end of the 24 week study.

As the general population ages, it’s becoming more important than ever for senior-based health programs to be developed and implemented to keep our seniors healthy and reduce the burden on the healthcare system. A silver yoga program is just one of many exercise options for older adults to participate in to positively affect their health. The importance of the above study is that it shows that exercise programs tailored specifically to the abilities and needs of an older population can, in fact, improve their overall physical health.

May 30, 2012

Jogging Fights Beer Belly Fat Better Than Weights

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Weight training is touted as the cure for many ills. But if the goal is to lose belly fat, aerobic exercise is the only way to go, exercise scientists say.

We’re not talking about muffin tops, the annoying bit of pudge that rolls over a woman’s waistline and is featured in those strange Internet ads. Rather, this is gut fat lodged around internal organs, which could look like a beer belly from the outisde. It’s considered a risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Surprisingly little research has been done comparing the health benefits of strength training with weights to aerobic exercise such as walking. But that’s just what researchers at Duke University did.

They compared changes in visceral fat – the fat that wraps around internal organs – in people who did strength training compared to a group who did aerobic exercise. They divided 198 overweight, sedentary adults into groups, with one group working out with weights three times a week for eight months. A second group jogged 12 miles a week.

The aerobic exercisers lost significant amounts of visceral fat, as well as fat around the liver. They also lost abdominal fat overall, and had improvements in liver enzymes and insulin resistance. By contrast, the people who were pumping iron lost a wee bit of subcutaneous fat, but their stats otherwise didn’t improve. The aerobic training burned 67 percent more calories than resistance training. The results were published in theAmerican Journal of Physiology.

“Resistance training is a very good way to increase lean muscle,” Cris Slentz, an exercise physiologist at Duke who led the study, told Shots. “And aerobic exercise isn’t.” But if the goal is to lose fat, then aerobic exercise is the ticket, he said.

There’s no easy way to know how much visceral fat a person has; the researchers had to put people in CT scans to measure it. But one good clue is a beer belly. And men tend to carry more visceral fat than women, Slentz says, while white people tend to have more visceral fat than African Americans. And older people tend to internalize fat, while younger people carry fat right beneath their dewy skin.

 

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Source: NPR

April 12, 2011

Does Dieting Make You Angry And Stressed?

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The idea of reaching for a stick of celery when all you really want is a big slice of chocolate cake, would probably make most people a little grumpy.

And, according to results published in the Journal of Consumer Research, exerting self-control while dieting can in fact make people feel angry and irritable.

The researchers set up four experiments to compare the attitudes of volunteers who were on a diet, with those who ate what they wanted. They found that:

  • Participants who choose an apple over a bar of chocolate were more likely to choose movies which had angry, revenge-filled plots.
  • Those who choose a gift certificate for groceries rather than one for a spa service, showed more interest in looking at angry faces as opposed to more fearful ones.
  • And, in an other experiment, people who chose a healthy snack instead of a less healthy one were more irritated by a public service advert promoting exercise.

Interestingly, the researchers have linked these feelings of irritation, stress, and anger to the act of exerting self-control while dieting, rather than the “dieting” itself.

The researchers point out that public policy makers should be more aware of the potential negative emotions, which can result when the public are encouraged to exert more self control over their daily choices.

What about you — does being on a diet make you feel more irritated or angry? How do you make healthy food choices without feeling like you’re denying yourself?
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Article Courtesy from: diet-blog
Image courtesy by: Kreutziana

February 4, 2011

Children Of Overweight Mothers Prone To Obesity By Age 6

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illustration courtesy of Image Source/Rex Features

By the time they are 6 years old, children of overweight mothers are more likely to be obese than children of lean mothers, according to a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2005; 81 [1], 140–46).

Researchers tracked 70 children over a 6-year period at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. Thirty-three had overweight mothers, and 37 had lean mothers. Weight and body composition didn’t change much between the two groups during the first 2 years of age. However, the high-risk group (kids whose mothers were overweight) had gained more weight than the other group by age 4. By age 6 the high-risk group not only weighed more but had more body fat.

Researchers pointed to the strength of genetic influences and suggested that efforts to prevent obesity should focus on such children at risk, preferably by the time they are 4 years old.

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source: IDEA Fitness

January 20, 2011

Healthy Ingredients = Fewer Calories In Kids

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Healthy Ingredients are Key!

Who says organic food isn’t worth the extra cost? A new study suggests that buying healthier but costlier ingredients may be the better deal in the long run. Replacing less healthy ingredients with more wholesome substitutes is not only more nutritious; it also reduces your kids’ daily caloric intake, according to a study presented last October at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society.

Researchers funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation served breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks to 26 children (ages 3–5) twice a week for 2 consecutive weeks. During the second week, however, the researchers prepared the snacks using lower-fat ingredients and more fruits and vegetables. Without changing the menu at all, they substituted healthy ingredients—for example, using 1% milk instead of whole milk and “hiding” veggie purées in pasta sauce.

During the second week, the children consumed about 400 fewer calories each day and—perhaps more important—did not compensate by eating more later in the day or the following day. According to a press release on the foundation’s website, “the findings indicate that healthy substitutions can significantly reduce caloric intake.” The researchers also noted that the children appeared to enjoy the healthier meals as much as the ones served the first week.

December 13, 2010

How Dangerous Is Being Fat? New Data On The Meaning Of Body Mass Index

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If your body mass index is between 20 and 24.9, you’re golden.

Obese people — those with a BMI of 30 to 34.9 — have a 44 percent higher risk of death from any cause compared with those in the most-favorable range, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

You won’t live forever, but your chances of living longer than those with other BMI values are statistically better, according to an analysis of 1.46 million adults in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine. One important proviso: These were Caucasian adults, so if your ethnicity is otherwise you’ll have to wait for further research.

(Measure your own BMI with an online calculator like this one.)

Now, to say that people with higher BMIs are more likely to die sooner isn’t exactly big news. But it’s worth noting because there’s been a lot of back-and-forth in recent years about the meaning of BMI. A 2009 advisory from the American Heart Association even suggested that being a little overweight – a BMI of 25 to 30 — might be protective. Others disagreed.

“There was debate over whether having a BMI in the overweight range is associated with an increased risk of death,” study author Amy Berrington de Gonzalez of the National Cancer Institute told Shots. “Our study finds that it does. It’s a small increase, about 10 percent. But we think it’s the best analysis to date.”

The reason she thinks so is that it included BMI and mortality data from 19 different studies. Pooling that much data allowed the researchers to exclude people who were smokers or had diagnosed diseases. So they could isolate the effects of BMI.

Berrington and her colleagues calculate that every five-point increase in BMI (for Caucasians in developed countries) leads to a 31-percent increase in risk of death from all causes. (Earlier studies had pretty much nailed down a link between higher BMIs and an increased risk of death from heart disease, stroke and certain cancers — uterine lining, esophageal, pancreatic.)

The study finds that obese people — those with a BMI of 30 to 34.9 — have a 44 percent higher risk of death from any cause compared with those in the most-favorable range. Severely obese people (BMI over 35) have an 88 percent higher death risk. And the most obese (BMI over 40) have a 250 percent higher risk.

These patterns held after the researchers accounted for other risk factors besides smoking and disease, such as alcohol consumption, physical activity and educational level. Those who were overweight or obese before the age of 50 had a higher mortality risk.

These numbers apply to the vast majority of Americans. Two out of every three U.S. adults are overweight or obese. Seventeen percent of women and 11 percent of men are severely obese.

Berrington acknowledges that BMI “is not a perfect measure of body fatness because it can’t distinguish body fat from lean mass. But we think it’s a valid measure of obesity.”

If you want to determine your own BMI, you can multiply your weight in pounds by 702, divide that answer by your height in inches, and then divide that answer again by your height in inches.

Or you can take a shortcut and use the calculator mentioned above.

Original Article from NPR Health

December 11, 2010

House Passes Bill To Upgrade School Lunches

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School lunches stand to get a little bit better soon.

Better school lunches are in the works. Courtesy from NPR

The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would upgrade the fare for federally subsidized school meals, clamp down on junk in school vending machines and make it easier for tens of thousands of poor kids to get free meals.

The Senate unanimously passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act months ago. Now, with the House vote, it’s on to President Obama for his signature. That’s pretty much a sure thing because the changes have been a top priority for the administration.

First lady Michelle Obama said in a statement she was “thrilled” by the vote. She said the changes would “improve the quality of meals that children receive at school” and help to “combat childhood obesity.”

For a rundown of what’s in the bill, see this summary from the office of Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the education and labor committee.

Republicans have carped that the bill’s nutritional standards, which would cut out junk food and restrict fat and calories in meals, go too far. They also have complained about the bill’s $4.5 billion price tag.

But the bill garnered pretty broad support. The legislation “makes significant progress toward ending child hunger and obesity by expanding access to federal child nutrition programs and improving the nutritional value they provide,” said a statement by Dr. O. Marion Burton, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

House Democrats dropped their own, more generous, bill in favor of the Senate version as a way to speed things up. In that bargain, they settled for less money per lunch, and a reduction in future funding increases for food stamps. In a side letter, the administration pledged to find money elsewhere to make up for the cuts to the food stamp program.

November 4, 2010

Diabetes Rates To Soar Unless Americans Get Weight Under Control

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Without more trips to the gym or a serious shedding of those extra pounds, up to one-third of American adults are on the way to becoming diabetic by 2050.

The number of people with diabetes has soared in the past 10 years

That’s according to a new projection out today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One in 10 American adults already have Type-2 diabetes — that’s 24 million people whose bodies don’t process insulin – the blood sugar regulator- very well. That in turn can lead to other, more serious health problems, like heart disease and stroke.

 
Most at risk are the obese, those who don’t exercise or have poor diets, those with a family history of the disease, and racial minorities. Also, the risks increase as we age.

The treatment for this kind of diabetes is bringing weight down, and eating a better diet, in many cases. And health apps can help, although we’re not really using them much.

As we now know, there’s no quick fix. Some pills boost our risk of more health problems.

The projected jump in diabetes cases has health officials worried about the country’s bottom line — and an already stressed health care system.

“Diabetes, costing the United States more than $174 billion per year in 2007, is expected to take an increasingly large financial toll in subsequent years,” the report says.

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