Fitness Together Brecksville: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

Just One More --- How to fit in something extra healthy this Leap Day!

Feb 29, 2016

It’s not often that the calendar gives you a gift. Sure, sometimes a birthday or favorite holiday lands on a weekend, and once a year most of the country gets granted an extra hour of sleep. With the anomalous Leap Day here, the whole world is essentially given an entire extra day. Granted, with February 29^th falling right on a Monday, there’s probably not a whole lot of leeway with how you spend it today. However, a gift is a gift – why not spend it wisely? On this extra day, if you could fit “just one more” of something into your life this year, what would you choose? Let us help you brainstorm.

How about one more day to connect with loved ones? That card you’ve been meaning to send, the belated “happy birthday” email you haven’t written, the grandparent you’ve needed to call. Time has a way of ticking by at lightening-speed when it comes to reaching out to our family and friends. “I’ll do it later” becomes our mantra. Using your extra day to reconnect with someone important to you is a great idea. Undoubtedly, you’ll be so happy you did.
Consider scheduling one more session with your trainer. Yes, we KNOW you have your routine set, your schedule made. However, throwing an extra workout into your routine once in a while isn’t a bad idea. Did you know that with just one cardio session:

Your lungs are getting stronger, and moving a greater volume of oxygen to your muscles
Your body is getting flooded with endorphins, making you feel fantastic – even after your workout comes to an end
You’re making gains at keeping healthy. Exercise elevates your body’s level of immunoglobulins. These are proteins that help boost your immune system and ward off infection. "Every sweat session you do can help strengthen your immune function for about 24 hours," says Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise.

Hungry? You’ve got one more day to incorporate produce into your diet, you lucky duck. Each day that you choose to eat well counts. Eating just one serving of vegetables contributes to a well-functioning digestive system thanks to the bounty of fiber and water found in many kinds. Not only that, because of the potassium they contain, just one serving of veggies can help flush out excess sodium in your body, leading to less bloat, and a slimmer-feeling you. What’s more, just one serving of some veggies can even help your body combat the effects of stress by lowering blood pressure and relaxing blood vessels. Nearly any vegetable you choose contains these stress-busting nutrients, but mushrooms, leafy greens, squash, potatoes, bell peppers, bok choy, fennel, string beans and edamame are especially good sources of several calming and healing vitamins and minerals.

You’ve been granted one more day, indeed. Not only do adding an extra session of exercise, or a day of eating well help to stockpile the beneficial physical benefits of these things, it does good things for you mentally as well. Each time we perform and reinforce a desired action, we make gains in letting that action (i.e.; eating broccoli instead of French fries or choosing aerobic exercise over curling up with season 2 of “Breaking Bad”) become a habit. So go ahead – choose just one more good thing for yourself. Come March, you’ll be awfully glad you did.

To learn how Fitness Together® can help you get “more” out of your workouts and nutrition, find a studio near you: http://fitnesstogether.com/find-a-studio

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

What is Cholesterol & how does it Affect My Risks for Heart Disease? If High Cholesterol Runs in My Family Do I Have Any Hope to Combat My Risks?

Trainer Tuesdays

Welcome back to the weekly edition on Trainer Tuesdays. Make sure to check in at our blog every Tuesday evening to learn the expertise of our great staff. Aside from being fantastic exercise coaches, they are also extremely knowledgeable in many aspects of health and fitness; so, it's time that you get to know them a little better! Each week, we will post a frequently asked, or sometimes just a fun fitness related question followed by the answers of each of the trainers at Fitness Together Brecksville.

What is cholesterol, how does it affect my risks for heart disease? If high cholesterol runs in my family do I have any hope to combat my risks?

Michael Roberto: Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in all cells of the body. There are 2 types of cholesterol: high density and low density. High density is good cholesterol as it transfers cholesterol to the liver and removes the cholesterol from the body. Low density is bad cholesterol as a high level of these will clog arteries and reduce blood flow throughout the body. If high cholesterol runs in your family, there are ways to combat this. Exercising, eating a healthy diet low in trans fats and saturated fats, taking time to relax and giving up smoking are a few ways to lower high cholesterol.

Fitness Together Personal Trainer Adam Teplitz on the Elliptical

Adam Teplitz: Cholesterol is constantly misunderstood. Let's first define what it is: a fat-like substance that helps your body build new cells, insulate nerves and produce hormones. Normally, the liver makes all the cholesterol the body needs. However, cholesterol can also be found in food, such as milk, eggs and meat.

There are two forms of cholesterol. Good cholesterol (high density lipoproteins) and bad cholesterol (low density lipoproteins).
Too much bad cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. It can build up in the walls of your arteries, causing a process called atherosclerosis. The arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart is slowed down or blocked. This can lead to a heart attack.
Good cholesterol actually works to clear bad cholesterol from the blood.

If you are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol, it is possible to lower your risk. Begin by changing your eating habits. Eat more whole grain foods that are high in fiber. Another step would be lowering your daily cholesterol intake. Eat more lean meat such as chicken and fish.

Finally, increasing your level of physical activity can combat high cholesterol. Regular exercise helps lower high levels of low density lipoproteins.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

What are the Symptoms & Risk Factors of Heart Disease. How Can Diet & Exercise Help?

Trainer Tuesdays

What are the Symptoms & Risk Factors of Heart Disease? How Can Diet & Exercise Help?

www.fitnesstogether.com/brecksville/customized-cardio-program

Michael Roberto: When talking about heart disease, it is very important to know and look for signs of irregularity. Symptoms may include shortness of breath, nausea, pain in the neck, chest and jaw regions of the body and fatigue ranging from low to extreme. But with exercise, you can lower your risk of having heart disease. By exercising, you lower your blood pressure and reduces strain on the heart. Exercise also increases good cholesterol which transports fat away from the arteries and sends the fat to the liver to be filtered. Eating a clean diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains and limiting refined sugar will also lower your chances of heart disease.

Justin Traft: So many people ask ‘what are some risk factors of heart disease?’ This is pretty easy to answer-- Diets play a huge part in it. Studies have shown people consuming large amounts of processed foods and red meats have a higher likelihood of developing heart disease. What makes that even worse is that 5 out of 10 people with that lifestyle don't exercise, which heightens the risk even more for suffering from heart disease. You can't absorb garbage on a nonstop basis and expect your heart to keep pumping normally without the proper nutrition and exercise that it needs. Keep in mind heart disease kills more people then every form of cancer... it’s the leading cause of death in both men and women. A sound diet is just as important as a great workout routine. Having a cardio program like Cardio Together is also a key factor in keeping your heart healthy. Getting your heart rate up is beneficial for not only you but for your heart as well. It's a living oxygenated muscle. Doing cardio helps to ensure that when your heart is in cardiac stress or strain it's able to handle the load put upon it. So do yourself a favor if not already start thinking about your heart. Remember a healthy heart equals a lifetime of happiness instead of a lifetime of sadness.

Adam Teplitz: With February being heart health month, it's important to take note of the risk factors for heart disease.

There are certain major risk factors that you're born with, which cannot be changed.
Increasing Age: the majority of people who die of coronary heart disease are 65 years or older.
Gender: men are at a greater risk for heart attacks than women. They tend to have heart attacks earlier in life. Women have some protection because of the effects produced by estrogen; however, post-menopausal women will generally have the same risk as men.

Hereditary: children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves.
Fortunately, there are major risk factors that you can modify, treat or control by changing your lifestyle or taking medicine. These risk factors include stress, alcohol, and diet.

A healthy diet is one of the best ways to control and limit heart disease. The food you eat can affect other controllable risk factors: cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes and weight. Make sure to choose nutrient rich foods containing vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Physical inactivity is another major risk factor that you have complete control over. Regular moderate to vigorous physical activity helps reduce the risk of heart and blood vessel disease by keeping the heart strong.

A healthy diet complemented with a structured strength and cardio routine is the perfect weapon to fight cardiovascular disease.

Amanda Ricci: Some of the risks of heart disease include: being of the age 65 years or older, male gender, family history, smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sedentary lifestyle and having diabetes. Some of the symptoms for heart disease include: chest pain or heart palpitations, and sometimes there are no symptoms.

Exercise and diet can help reduce your risk for heart disease in that building muscle helps to tone the smooth lining of your arteries, (which is composed of smooth muscle tissue) and that helps to assist the blood in returning back to the heart. This means that the heart does not have to work as hard and which is why your blood pressure can potentially decrease up to 12 hours after working out. Exercise also helps to increase your good cholesterol levels a.k.a. HDL (high density lipoproteins). According to the Mayo Clinic, “For every 6 lbs. you lose, your HDL may increase by 1mg/dl. Another way to increase your HDL is by eating healthier. A good range for your HDL cholesterol is between 40-59 mg/dl, the higher the better.

In addition, one of the other ways that exercise and good nutrition helps reduce the risk of heart disease include preventing or reversing diabetes. Exercise assists by reducing blood glucose or sugar levels in the body. When an individual has diabetes it means their body is not producing enough insulin from the pancreas to process the sugar and distribute the energy to our cells. When the pancreas isn’t functioning properly and too much sugar stays in the body it can cause diabetes. Therefore, exercise helps the cells in the body distribute and eliminate that sugar in the body. A healthier diet can also help by reducing the amount of sugar that the pancreas must process. So as you can see there are numerous benefits to exercise and a healthy diet. It is better to reverse or prevent development of as many risk factors as possible. Obviously age, gender and family history cannot be controlled. However, smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure, lifestyle and diabetes are able to be controlled.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Should I Do Cardio to Lose Weight or to Improve my Heart and Lung Health?

Trainer Tuesdays

Should I Do Cardio to Lose Weight or to Improve my Heart and Lung Health?

Michael Roberto: While cardio can aid in weight loss, I personally like to do it to strengthen my heart and lungs. During aerobic exercise (walking, jogging, etc.), your working muscles need more blood. So the heart works harder to do so and gets stronger and increases the volume of blood it can deliver. Meanwhile, your lungs become more efficient in delivering to the blood and removing the carbon dioxide waste. As an added bonus, your diaphragm, the muscle that supports your lungs, gets stronger as well.

Kelly Bailey: If you're trying to lose weight, cardio should be kept to a minimum. Your main focus should be on nutrition and lifting weights. Any cardio should consist of shorter bouts of "burst" training. Burst training, also called interval training, is performed by doing a very short and intense work interval, followed by a recovery period that is usually about twice the length of the work interval. You cycle through the work/rest intervals 4 to 6 times. A proper interval workout should take no more than 25 minutes to complete.

For cardiovascular health, the American Heart Association recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, five days per week. For those of you that dislike running or heavy sweat sessions, have no fear! The best moderate-intensity cardio you can do is brisk walking!

Adam Teplitz: There are endless benefits to cardio exercise. One of the most important ones is the improved health of your heart and your lungs. During aerobic exercise (cardio), your working muscles demand more oxygen, and this prompts the heart to work harder, get stronger, and increase the volume of blood it can deliver to muscles. Your lungs, meanwhile, become more efficient in delivering oxygen to the blood and removing the carbon dioxide waste.

The other main benefit to cardio is weight loss. During cardio exercise, your body is burning calories (mainly from carbohydrates and fats) to fuel the exercise.

Cardio should always be included with a strength training routine to maximize weight loss.
Everyone is unique and will benefit from their own individualized cardio program.

Personal Trainers Lisa & Amanda Supporting Heart Health Month

Amanda Ricci: The answer to the above question is both. Cardio should be done not only to improve the health of your heart and lungs but also to lose weight. By doing cardio, your increasing the amount of work of the heart and lungs. In order to move the heart must pump blood not only to the lungs but also to the rest of the muscles in the body so that they are able to contract, and thus your body is able to move. The more intense the exercise the harder the heart must work. Once the heart builds endurance, it become more efficient and doesn’t have to pump as hard to deliver blood to the muscles in the body. Therefore, it becomes stronger. One way to measure of your hearts endurance is through your heart rate or pulse in beats per minute. An example of this would be a professional endurance athlete, who has a pulse of 40 beats per minute, compared to someone who is active on average may be anywhere from 60-100 beats per minute.

In order for your body to move it needs energy. It receives this energy through the calories that we take in from eating food. It uses this energy with all the necessary activities needed for survival such as: sleeping, eating, breathing, moving and walking, etc. If you take in more calories than what you burn then you will gain weight. If you take in less than you will lose weight. If you do not eat enough calories than your body could go into starvation mode and hold onto body fat because it does not know when it is going to eat again. The calories that you burn by performing daily activities are not enough to get you into the fat burning zone. By doing cardio and getting your heart rate into your target zone you are adding to your calorie deficit, which will assist you in losing weight. Burning calories and eating healthy will create a negative energy balance in the body, which will assist you in losing weight. This is why it is necessary to do cardio for both losing weight and training your heart and lungs.

Steven Madden: I personally would focus on heart and lung health when doing cardio more that I would weight loss. The truth is that steady state cardio is one of the best ways to improve your cardiovascular system. Having a stronger heart and a larger lung capacity can be beneficial in all areas of life, not just what the scale says. Cardiovascular health can also be a better goal to focus on, as you can directly feel results. When you don't get winded going up the stairs, that can be a better accomplishment that dropping a few pounds. Plus, when you work on your cardiovascular system, you'll drop weight anyway, so why worry about it?

Lisa Clark: Cardiovascular exercise is both a great way to strengthen the heart and also aids in weight loss. By training the heart to pump more efficiently during cardio training, you in turn are boosting your metabolism, burning more calories and helping with weight loss. In addition it helps reduce stress, improves sleep and increases energy!