"To stretch or not to stretch." That wasn't exactly Hamlet's question. The Prince of Denmark had matters of state to consider, especially the most effective method to avenge the murder of his father. Getting ready for his next fencing lesson had taken low priority.
But for the rest of us who aren't Nordic princes, matters of fitness are in fact akin to matters of state, namely the state of our bodies. Your fitness choices are critically important to your health and well-being. Also, your overall approach to fitness activities matters a great deal, such as how you get ready to do the exercise things you're going to do.
The question of stretching has been debated for many years, going back to the early days of popularized forms of strength training in the 1960s.1,2,3 "To stretch or not to stretch" really was and continues to be the question. Proponents of stretching actively and vigorously defend their position. Those who believe that stretching has no value, or may even be harmful, are equally assertive. There is evidence in the scientific literature to support both sides. A person who wishes to derive the greatest benefit from her time spent exercising is, like Hamlet, in quite a quandary.
But there's no need to vacillate and mimic Hamlet's notorious exploration of doubt and indecision. The way forward, as always, is to do what works for you. For example, if you are naturally flexible there might not be a need for stretching. People who can just flop over and put their hands on the floor from a standing position already have one benefit that stretching provides. Their hamstrings and lower back muscles are already pretty loose. A contrasting example is the person with naturally tight muscles. Many such people would actually strain a back muscle or a hamstring if they tried to bend over and touch the floor without any preparation.
In the world of fitness, what works for one person does not necessarily work for another. If you're a person who would benefit from stretching, you need to stretch. But not everybody will benefit. For some, time spent stretching is time wasted. You find out by stretching before a few exercise sessions. If your muscles feel "long" and limber and your joints feel freely moveable, then stretching is probably a good thing to do. If your muscles and joints don't feel any different from the way they usually do, in other words, you were already pretty loose to begin with and stretching didn't add any noticeable benefit, then you're probably a person who doesn't need to stretch.
If you're stretching, the next question becomes whether to stretch before or after exercise. Again, there are proponents of each approach and some authorities suggest that stretching both before and after is the way to go. Explore the various possibilities and determine the most effective method for you. Most importantly, get regular vigorous exercise and have fun doing it.
1Gartley RM, Prosser JL: Stretching to prevent musculoskeletal injuries. An approach to workplace wellness. AAOHN 59(6):247-252, 2011
2Stojanovic MD, Ostojic SM: Stretching and injury prevention in football: current perspectives. Res Sports Med 19(2):73-91, 2011
3Samukawa M, et al: The effects of dynamic stretching on plantar flexor muscle-tendon tissue properties. Man Ther August 2, 2011 (Epub ahead of print)
Here comes summer! Fun in the sun. Barbecues, fireworks, and cool drinks. And outdoor activities - hiking, biking, running, swimming, skating, blading, and even canoeing.
Getting back into shape seems like a very good idea right about now. We want to look good in our shorts and tee shirts, and more importantly, we don't want to be huffing and puffing. We want to be able to do what we want to do without having to think about limitations or restrictions.
How to return to fitness? There are three main areas on which to focus - losing some weight, doing aerobic exercise, and doing some weight-training.1,2
Whether you want to lose five, ten, or twenty pounds, the easy-to-follow principles are the same. First, eat several (five or six) small meals each day. Each small meal contains about 300 calories and your total daily intake is between 1800 and 1900 calories per day. This might be a significant reduction for many people, so be sure to check with your doctor and get his or her OK to begin such a food plan.
Each small meal contains both protein and carbohydrate. This food-combining principle retrains your body's metabolism and helps you become a lean machine. Food combining optimizes energy utilization and evens out insulin levels throughout the day. This is particularly important for people who are hypoglycemic or pre-diabetic. Again, check with you doctor to be sure such a plan will work well for you.
Returning to aerobic fitness is very important for summer activities. Get out of your house and begin a walking program. Start with ten or fifteen minutes of easy walking. Add a minute each day, building up to thirty-minute walks over the course of three or four weeks. When you can walk for thirty minutes easily, increase your pace. Again, increase your pace gradually over several weeks.
Treadmills, stationary bikes, stair machines, and elliptical machines all provide excellent aerobic workouts. The key, as with walking, is to build up gradually to a high level. Interval training methods are also valuable and improve cardiovascular efficiency. Interval training involves alternating intense and slow periods of activity.
Weight-training tones muscles, trains your body to do physical work, and causes your metabolism to burn fat while you're resting, so there are a wide variety of benefits here. Many excellent books and magazines are available to help you begin a weight-training program. Workout with a knowledgeable friend. Hire a personal trainer for four weeks and learn enough to be able to workout on your own. The physical and psychological benefits are well worth the time and effort.3
Now you're fit and well-prepared to enjoy all that summer has to offer. The final tip is to be sure to stay hydrated all day long. Drinking water is the most important nutritional advice anyone could give to anyone.
1Simkini-Silverman LR, et al. Lifestyle intervention can prevent weight gain during menopause. Ann Behav Med 26(3):212-220, 2003
2Knuttgen HG. Strength training and aerobic exercise: comparison and contrast. J Strength Cond Res 21(3):973-978, 2007
3Kraemer WJ, et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 34(2):364-380, 2002
Most people are aware of the worldwide epidemics of diabetes and obesity. The World Health Organization definition of overweight is a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 25. Obesity is defined as a BMI equal to or greater than 30.1 Worldwide obesity has doubled since 1980. In 2008, 35% of adults aged 20 and older throughout the world were overweight and an additional 11% were obese. Further, more than 347 million people worldwide have diabetes.2 In other worlds, one out of every 20 persons has diabetes.
What's going on? Why be concerned? These conditions do not exist by themselves. Both contribute to additional severe health issues. Obesity is the leading cause of pediatric high blood pressure and increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Uncontrolled diabetes, over time, can lead to kidney disease, heart disease, disorders of the nerve system, and blindness.
In the face of these life-threatening epidemics it's important to look for any good news. The good news is that both obesity and diabetes can be addressed with lifestyle-related changes. A suboptimal diet and lack of exercise are causes of both conditions. This is well-known. It is also well-known that maintaining a healthy diet and getting regular exercise prevents obesity and prevents or delays the most common type diabetes (type 2 diabetes).
A healthy diet consists of regularly consuming food from all major food groups and consistently eating only that amount of food necessary for your daily energy requirements. If you're interested in losing weight and then maintaining the best weight for your body, a daily calorie intake between 1800 and 2100 calories is good for most men, and a daily calorie intake between 1700 and 1800 calories is good for most women.3 There is a third component of healthy eating that regulates how your body uses the food you eat. This additional component is known as food combining.
Food combining involves combining protein and complex carbohydrates at each meal. This important step is the key to a healthy, optimally functioning metabolism. When your metabolic processes are working efficiently, you’re burning carbohydrates for energy. Your blood insulin levels are steady throughout the day. In contrast, without food combining, your digestive processes send unregulated amounts of glucose into the blood stream every time you eat a meal. The result is frequent swings in insulin levels and storage of these glucose molecules (broken-down carbohydrates) as fat. Long-term, over months and years, such eating patterns can lead to being overweight, obesity, and diabetes.
Putting the dietary principle of food combining into practice is easy. All that's required is paying attention to meal planning. The result of this simple series of steps is better health for you and your family, now and in the future.
1WHO Fact Sheet No. 311 (March 2013): http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/
2Danaei G, et al: National, regional, and global trends in fasting plasma glucose and diabetes prevalence since 1980. Systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 370 country-years and 2.7 million participants. Lancet 378(9785):31–40. 2011
3Campbell KL, et al: J Clin Oncol Reduced-Calorie Dietary Weight Loss, Exercise, and Sex Hormones in Postmenopausal Women: Randomized Controlled Trial. J Clin Oncol 30(19):2314-2326, 2012
Every five years or so a new fitness craze sweeps through the culture. Television news anchors blather on about the latest, greatest exercise programs. Newspapers and magazines publish features in their Sunday sections, filled with pictures of glistening, glowing, glamorous celebrities hard at work on the new routines.
Back in the mid-1980s, aerobics classes were the leading edge of these fitness booms. Then after people found out the hard way that all that jumping up-and-down caused stress fractures and other injuries, low-impact aerobics was the thing to do. The world of strength training has also seen many fads come and go. Exercising on Nautilus equipment, circuit training, and high-weight/low-rep training have all had their day. The most recent strength training fad involves using "kettlebells" rather than traditional dumbbells and barbells to move weight around.
Many people who try out brand-new workout styles eventually find that the things they learned long ago are actually the methods that work best. In terms of overall strength and fitness, the push-ups, pull-ups, squat-thrusts, jumping jacks, and standing long jumps that high school gym teachers used to make us do were actually very good for us and still are very good.
Most of those compound exercises we'd grudgingly do as teenagers, complaining and groaning all the while, were great for building core strength. In those days, though, no one was talking about core strength - the overall concept wasn't clearly defined as such. But the results of the workouts were plain for all to see. Core strength is now an important focus of overall fitness. Pilates classes - based on fundamental principles of core fitness - started to dominate the health-and-fitness media in the 1990s.
The rise of yoga classes as a fitness phenomenon has roughly paralleled the popularity of Pilates classes. Joseph Pilates developed his training methods in the 1930s and his programs have become widely known within the last 20 years. Yoga, of course, is an interrelated set of branches, styles, and disciplines, many of which are centuries old. Hatha yoga, a well-known method, was initially described in the 15th century by Yogi Swatmarama. Yoga has become a popular exercise program for people of all ages and levels of fitness. Participants in a typical yoga class include middle schoolers, teenagers, college students, and adults of all ages, including older adults in their 70s and 80s.
As a fitness method, yoga offers a complete range of activities in one hour-long class. A yoga workout includes strength-building exercises, rapid series of movements that are intensely aerobic, and flexibility routines.1,2,3 Participants learn how to focus and concentrate. Yoga students learn how to calm their mind. Participants learn how to breathe so that energy is available for the hard work of the class. Importantly, beginners can work at their own pace and are able to derive as much benefit as the most experienced students in the class.
Yoga classes provide life-affirming benefits that last all day long. Additionally the endorphin response is profound, enhancing well-being while simultaneously strengthening the immune system. Yoga is a total-body training system that literally involves the body, mind, and spirit.
1Williams K, et al: Evaluation of the effectiveness and efficacy of Iyengar yoga therapy on chronic low back pain. Spine 34(19):2066-2076, 2009
2Tekur P, et al: Effect of short-term intensive yoga program on pain, functional disability and spinal flexibility in chronic low back pain: a randomized control study. J Altern Complement Med 14(6):637-644, 2008
3Chandwani KD, et al: Yoga improves quality of life and benefit finding in women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer. J Soc Integr Oncol 8(2):43-55, 2010
Which type of exercise is right for me? Is lifting weights going to give me the best result? Maybe I should concentrate on running - that will really help to strengthen my heart. What about yoga - everyone says yoga is good for flexibility. All of us, at one point or another, have had these conversations with ourselves. We're continually bombarded with exercise-related stories on television, in magazines, and in our electronic newsreaders. But many of us don't know how to put the information we're receiving to good use. We don't have a context or framework with which to assess the potential value in these media communications.
For most of us, a very good answer to the exercise conundrum is to do a variety of activities on a weekly basis. We know this intuitively. Concentrating on one type of exercise will usually lead to the loss of other important benefits. Again for most of us, across-the-board benefits are required. We need to maintain or increase a healthful amount of lean muscle mass. We gain this benefit from strength training. We need to maintain or improve cardiovascular strength and health. These are obtained from aerobic-type exercise such as brisk walking, running, swimming, or bicycling.1 We need to maintain or improve flexibility and stretchability. These benefits are gained from yoga. Each category of physical fitness is necessary for ongoing health and well-being. Thus, each of the three main categories of exercise is needed to ensure we obtain the full range of benefits.
It's important to be aware that each exercise category provides a distinct benefit, and as such no individual category is a "better" than the others. Doing exercise consistently is what counts. Going further, consistently doing a range of types of exercise provides lasting health benefits. There might be times when a person chooses to focus on one specific category. That's fine, provided that the other two categories continue to be incorporated on a temporarily reduced basis. After a while, the person will usually choose to return to a broader approach.
Finally, most people are familiar with strength training and the various types of cardiovascular exercise. Not everyone is familiar with yoga. There are numerous other activities that promote flexibility and stretchability, and yoga is not the only means of obtaining these benefits. But many people have discovered that yoga in itself is complete exercise. Regular yoga practice provides strength training, cardiovascular training, and deep training of the proprioceptive system (the body's awareness of position in 3-dimensional space) which leads to improved agility and balance.2,3 Regular yoga practice adds lean muscle mass and lowers the heart rate (as a result of improved cardiovascular capacity). Those who do yoga are "light on their feet". Yoga is a remarkable exercise system and could be sufficient in itself for long-lasting health and wellness. But when a person adds a weight lifting program and specific cardiovascular training, the remarkable benefits of cross-training kick in. The overall gains achieved are noticeably enhanced. Thus, a broad program of strength training, cardiovascular training, and yoga can lead to the best results.
1Snel M, et al: Effects of Adding Exercise to a 16-Week Very Low-Calorie Diet in Obese, Insulin-Dependent Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2012 May 8 (Epub ahead of print)
2Galantino ML, et al: Impact of Yoga on Functional Outcomes in Breast Cancer Survivors With Aromatase Inhibitor-Associated Arthralgias. Integr Cancer Ther 2011 July 6 (DOI: 10.1177/1534735411413270)
3Kiecolt-Glaser JK, et al: Adiponectin, leptin, and yoga practice. Physiol Behav 2012 Jan 27 (Epub ahead of print)
Everyone knows that exercise is good for you.1,2 Many people who haven’t exercised in a while (possibly not in many years) want to know whether running will help them get fit. A follow-up question for those willing to take action in the important area of exercise is how to avoid running injuries. The answers to these questions can have a long-term impact on a person’s health and well-being.3
First, running is not for everyone. Also, running is not a better form of exercise than other aerobic activities such as walking, swimming, or biking. For example, older adults who haven’t exercised in 20 years would probably derive more benefit from walking than from running. For such a person, attempting to run regularly might actually cause real problems such as a stress fracture in the lower leg. It’s not that older persons shouldn’t run, but rather older adults who are out-of-shape should use caution if they are choosing to begin running for exercise. Lastly, although runners often believe that what they’re doing is the “best” form of exercise, such an opinion is not factual. The best form of exercise is what works for you. This means doing regular, consistent, vigorous exercise that makes you feel good, empowered, and more alive. This is contrasted with exercise you think you “should” be doing that actually makes you feel tired and lethargic and may, in fact, be injurious.
If you do choose to begin running, the most important recommendation is to start slowly. The key variables are distance and pace, so a beginner should start by lightly jogging at a slow pace for about 10 minutes. If you haven’t done aerobics in a while, 10 minutes will feel like plenty. Even if you’re not out-of-breath, don’t do more. Part of an effective running routine is discipline. Most running injuries result from doing too much. Do enough and no more.
The benefits of running are long-term, so build up your distance and pace carefully, over weeks and months. For example, if you’re running 2 miles a day and feel good, going on a 5-mile run with a friend will probably not have the outcome you’re looking for. Stress fractures, shin splints, and muscle strains are just waiting to happen. The way to prevent running injuries is to be consistent and never do too much. Of course, stuff happens, but you want to cut down the odds of something happening to you. You do that by following your well-designed running plan.
How much exercise is best? For most of us, 30 minutes per day of vigorous exercise, 5 times per week, is sufficient for general health and well-being. Competitive athletes have more complex training schedules, but for everyone else the 30x5 rule works. Your workouts can be longer than 30 minutes, of course, but 30 minutes a day is all we really need. In terms of running, that translates into about 2.5 miles at a nice 12-minute pace. Remember, if you’re just starting out, you need to build up to this level slowly and gradually. Also, running should be done on alternate days. At most, you’ll be running three times per week. Some weeks you’ll only run twice.
The key thing to remember is to have fun. Be consistent, pay attention to what you’re doing, and enjoy the benefits of enhanced health and well-being.
Should I stretch before or after I exercise?1 Should I even bother to stretch at all? These are the questions that every busy adult asks whenever he or she is planning to begin an exercise program. The correct answer to the first question is "do whatever is right for you." Some people need to lengthen their major muscle groups, such as the quadriceps (front of the thigh), hamstrings (back of the thigh), and calves, before they run, walk, swim, and/or lift weights for exercise. For others, it's best to stretch at the end of a workout, re-lengthening the major muscle groups so they'll be ready to help you move through the rest of your day.
The answer to the second question is "yes, stretching is important for everybody and is often the missing link in trying to understand why you injured yourself when you were exercising." Stretching helps you either warm up or cool down, whichever is needed for you to get the most out of your exercise. Not stretching in the way that you need puts you on the fast track to sustaining an exercise-related injury. As always, prevention is the best policy.
A dynamic warm-up is a fun and entertaining supplement or replacement, at times, to stretching if you're a stretch-first person.2,3 In a dynamic warm-up, you take important joints such as your hips, shoulders, and lower back through complete ranges of motion, using large muscle groups for support. Dynamic warm-up activities are similar to core strengthening exercises and have unique names such as scorpion, hip crossover, drop lunge, and quad circles. You can mix-and-match a variety of dynamic warm-up activities on different workout days, creating ongoing interest that helps you maintain your exercise routine.
A dynamic cool-down can serve as a similar supplement or replacement to stretching, at times, if you're a stretch-after person. If you've been walking or running, rather than simply completing your walk or run, spend an additional few minutes walking or running with shorter strides and/or at a slower pace. Walking backward at a slow pace is another method for achieving a dynamic cool-down. If you've been lifting weights, a series of deep-knee lunges will stretch your lower back and hips. A yoga-style downward dog will lengthen your spine, hamstrings, and calf muscles. Moving your arms through big circles, both clockwise and counterclockwise, will open up your shoulder girdles and lengthen the muscles of your rotator cuffs.
Regardless of the method you choose, stretching is an important part of your regular exercise activities. The extra few minutes spent either warming up or cooling down will help you maintain your exercise program achieve long-term health and well-being.
1McHugh MP, Cosgrave CH: To stretch or not to stretch: the role of stretching in injury prevention and performance. Scand J Med Sci Sports 20(2):169-181, 2010
Professional dancers are a pretty select group. These elite athletes are arguably among the fittest people in the world. Dance training provides flexibility, strength, speed, and agility - qualities of which we'd all like to have more. As a result, the dancer's experience provides lifelong guidance for the rest of us as we pursue our own fitness-and-exercise quest.1,2,3
1. Hard Work. Dance training provides everything an athlete needs. But there's a lot of personal discipline and effort involved. That said, the results are magnificent. If we want comparable [for us] magnificent results, we must put in the time. We must do the hard work.
2. Process and Practice. Dancers know they're in it for the long haul. They're committed to the process of becoming a dancer and to the practice required to get where they want to go. It's a goal that takes years to accomplish and it's a goal that has no end-point.
Adults who want to get fit, be fit, and stay fit need to remember this long timeline. Fitness doesn't happen in a month or even three months. Sure, you can make good fitness gains, getting slimmer and stronger, having more endurance. But the real power comes from embracing the process and practice of fitness. The real power comes from a long-term commitment to being fit, healthy, and well. To being willing to take small steps, just as dancers literally do, day after day.
3. Mind-Set. A dancer's mind-set is all about the moment, it's all about the work-at-hand. Looked at from this perspective, being a dancer is a Zen process. The work of dance is the work of right-now. Whatever a dancer is doing in the moment has to be the best that dancer can do. Otherwise, what's the point? If the work of the moment isn't the very best you can do, you'll learn nothing, gain nothing, and your time and effort are wasted. More importantly, neither you, nor your body, nor your brain will grow.
Dancers learn these lessons in their very first class. Maximum effort is required all the time. It is supremely exciting and life-affirming to be part of such demanding activity. Strength training can be just like this. Running can be just like this. All our core exercise classes, spin classes, and yoga classes can be just like this, too.
What we can learn from dance and dancers is the value of bringing a total-commitment mind-set to all our fitness activities. Of course, there will be days when we don't completely get our act together. That's fine. That's part of what it means to be human. Our level of commitment is what keeps us going. Dancers know this. Deep in their muscles, deep in their bones. We can all learn a great deal from their approach to health and fitness.
The most important thing to do - every hour or so - is change your posture and get the body parts moving again. Stand up, take a few slow, deep breaths, and walk around for five minutes. Change your perspective. Go to the window, look around, see something other than the Power Point you've been working on for the last hour. Refresh your mind with new images, new scenery.
Now, back at your desk, you're ready to do a series of simple exercises that will get your physical and mental systems back online -
• Gently tilt your head forward and back
• Gently turn your head toward your shoulder, right and left
• Gently tilt your ear toward your shoulder, right and left
• Shoulder shrugs - lift your shoulders toward your ears
• Shoulder rolls - forward and back
• Wrist circles - clockwise and counterclockwise
• Ankle circles - clockwise and counterclockwise
• Arm circles - clockwise and counterclockwise
• Knee bends - halfway down and come up
• Knee raises (lightly touch a wall with one hand for support)
• Spine twists (hands on hips, gently twist right and left)
• Spine side bends ((hands on hips, gently bend right and left)
How many repetitions to do? Just a few for each exercise - you'll know instinctively what feels good, what feels right. And in less than ten minutes, you've stimulated your muscles and joints throughout your body, recharged your nervous system, regained the benefits you achieved earlier in the day at the gym, and are primed to have a great rest of the day!
1Blanchette DM, et al. Aerobic Exercise and Cognitive Creativity: Immediate and Residual Effects. Creativity Research Journal, 17(3):257-264, 2005.
2Steinberg H, et al. Exercise enhances creativity independently of mood. Brit J Sports Med 31(3):240-245, 1997.
3Wiley RL, et al. Isometric exercise training lowers resting blood pressure. Med Sci Sports Exerc 24(7):749-54, 1992.
