A Family Fitness Guide

Getting A Stress Test

From Doctor Chet Zelasko

Fitness is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Being fit means that you should have a certain level of muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body fat, and cardiovascular endurance. Let’s define some of these terms:

• Muscular strength is an indication of how strong you are. In other words, how much weight can you lift?
• Muscular endurance is how long you can sustain a muscular effort. For example, shoveling snow or digging in a garden requires that you lift a weight repeatedly, so it combines strength and exertion over time.
• Flexibility is the range of motion in a joint. Touching your toes or not is an indication of lumbar flexibility, while trying to touch your hands behind your back (at shoulder level) is an indication of shoulder flexibility.
• Body fat is the amount of fat you store for energy on a rainy day-or a month or two. It’s no surprise that Americans carry far too much body fat and need to reduce it.
• Cardiovascular endurance is a measure of the fitness of your heart and blood vessels.

While every area is important, your heart is critical to all other areas-if it’s got a problem, your body has a problem. That’s why you need to have a stress test before you begin to exercise strenuously.

A stress test is a maximal-exertion graded-exercise test (GXT). This type of test is usually performed on a treadmill-sometimes a bike-and begins at an easy level and takes you to a maximal effort in 8-12 minutes. During the test, a cardiologist or internist will monitor your heart patterns on an electrocardiograph for any abnormalities. While there are certain limitations to the test, it’s the only way to test how your heart will perform at maximal levels and whether disease is present.

More than identifying whether you have heart disease, a recent study on men who were referred for a GXT demonstrated that the men who were the fittest lived longer than those who were not as fit. The higher the fitness level, the longer they lived-whether they had diagnosed heart disease or not (1).

Who should have a stress test? Anyone who is considering strenuous exercise, such as running a 5K or doing a triathlon. Most professional health organizations, including the American College of Sports Medicine, recommend a stress test performed by an internist or cardiologist if you are a male 40 years and older or a woman 50 years and older. In addition to checking your heart for any signs of disease, the GXT provides a baseline for comparison if problems develop in the future. How would your doctor know what is normal for you if you had never been evaluated?

Getting fit is important, but getting fit safely is even more so. Schedule an appointment with your healthcare professional to discuss when you should have your GXT. Fitness is not an option in this life. Make it a priority for you.

Weight-Loss Myth: Walking vs. Running

This is another myth that has some basis in fact.

Walking burns more fat than running.

The basis for this myth is the estimate of what kind of fuel a person uses while exercising. The muscles prefer glucose (sugar) as a fuel because it can burn it more efficiently than other fuels. The harder you exercise, the more your body relies on sugar.

If you exercise slowly or less strenuously, the body shifts to burning more fat as a fuel. That’s the basis for fat-burning exercise: exercise slower and your body uses fat as a fuel.

While absolutely correct, it’s meaningless in the real world. You’d have to invest much more time in exercising slowly than if you go fast. It doesn’t mean that walking isn’t efficient–it is, but you’ll have to spend more time doing it than you will running or taking a spinning class.

Here’s the thing: it doesn’t really matter what type of fuel you use when you exercise because as long as you don’t overeat, you’ll burn up body fat when you run out of glucose. It may be hours later, but you will burn up the fat and that’s a fact.

Fountain Of Youth

We all probably would like to stay as young as we can for as long as can. Everyone would love to have a fountain of youth, and recent research suggests that it’s closer than you think.

There are areas of your cells’ DNA called telomeres that tell the cell when to replicate. The problem is that every time a cell divides, some of the telomeres are used up–we have only so many times that a cell can divide before it’s done. In a study of twins published this year, researchers found that telomere length was tied to physical activity. The more active the person was, the longer the telomeres, so the longer the cells can keep dividing–thus keeping you younger.

What does that mean for you? You don’t have to run marathons or lift mountains every day. All you have to do is move–yard work, dancing, walking, jogging, swimming. If it involves movement, it counts.

You have access to the real fountain of youth. What are you waiting for? Get off it and get after it, people.

Stay Hydrated and Replenished This Summer

Summer is officially here! Family vacations, road trips, fun in the sun….and dehydration?

There is no faster way to kill your summer fun than feeling sick just because you are dehydrated. Keep your cool and stay hydrated, replenish with plenty of fresh, clean water is the best way to stay healthy and energetic for all summer activities.

Signs of dehydration:

• Dry lips and tongue
• Headache
• Weakness, dizziness and fatigue
• Lightheaded
• Nausea
• Muscle cramp
• Darker than usual urine

People most at risk for dehydration

Children: Kids lose water through their skin faster than adults.

Make sure: Your kids should drink 4–8 oz. of fluid before they go outside and 5–9 oz. every 20 minutes while they are outside. Once they come back inside, they should drink 24 oz. more, within the first two hours.

Athletes and exercisers: If you train and compete outside, you may not drink enough to make up for what you lose. Even short bouts of physical activity can increase your fluid needs.
Make sure: You drink 17–20 oz. before you start and an additional 7–10 oz. every 10 to 20 minutes that you’re active. And when you stop, your body still needs more: up to 24 oz. within the first two hours after you’re done.

Outdoor workers: You may not realize that working outside most of the day significantly increases your need for fluids.
Make sure: You should pack containers of water or other drinks in a cooler to take with you and take water breaks at least every two hours.

Older adults: If you’re an older adult, the heat will affect you more intensely – and your sensation of being thirsty is reduced. Dehydration is actually one of the most frequent causes of hospitalizations among people over the age of 65.
Make sure: If you are 65 or older, make it a point to drink every few hours, especially if you spend time outside.

So how much do you need?
There are at least three rules of thumb:

• Replacement approach. The average adult loses 8–10 cups a day under normal conditions. So, if you drink a little more than eight cups a day, along with your normal diet, you can replace what you lose.
• 8 x 8 rule. The thinking goes, if you drink eight 8-oz glasses of water a day, your basics are covered. And though this “rule” isn’t supported by scientific evidence, it’s an easy guide to remember.
• Dietary recommendations. The Institute of Medicine recommends that men drink about 13 cups of fluids a day and women who are not pregnant or breastfeeding drink about 9 cups a day.

Alternatives to water
If you don’t drink water because it tastes blah, or if you’ve lost electrolytes during exercise, a sports drink is a great option. Studies show that lightly sweetened, flavored, non-carbonated sports drinks do a better job than water of preventing dehydration. Sports drinks help to replace some of the electrolytes you lose through sweat, and they provide carbohydrate energy to working muscles.

Did you know?
Thirst is not always a good way to tell if you need to drink more. During vigorous exercise, your fluid reserves may be lost before you feel thirsty. So make sure that you’re well hydrated before, during, and after exercise or exertion.

Cardio and Weight-Training Exercises

Let’s Get Moving

No time to exercise? You just have to make time, because if you don’t, all kind of ailments will follow. The body is designed to move, so you either move it or loose it. When you are coming up with excuses not to exercise, ask yourself whether you can afford to get sick, live in pain or not able to do the things you like and want to do later on in life? If not, you just have to find the time, even 30 minutes a day will do.

Here is a foundation exercise program any one can do (unless your doctor says no). You don’t have to go to a gym. You need only 30 minutes. You can do the cardio and weight training at home, around the block or in your back yard.

Cardio exercise

Cardiovascular (cardio) exercise is commonly referred to as “aerobic” which means “with air”. Exercise increased the heart rate, and when your heart rate increases so does your breathing rate. This is to pull in more air containing oxygen to compensate for the increased oxygen you are using in muscles. Blood flows faster to deliver oxygen and other nutrients to muscles and to remove waste products. Research shows that the benefits of cardio exercise on numerous.

Types of cardio exercise

The types of cardiovascular exercise, also call modes, are whatever uses large muscle groups in rhythmic patterns.

• Walking, jogging, all running outdoors or on treadmills
• Cycling outdoors or on cycle ergometers
• Swimming all pool-walking
• Cross-country skiing or Nordic-tracking
• Stair climbing using stairs or stair-climbing machines
• And too many others to list

Find something you like (or dislike the least) and go for it. You can use a combination of various exercises on different days or even within each workout. It’s up to you, but you must pick something.

The foundation 5-20-5 cardio workout

Once you have picked the mode of cardio exercise, get started. Get out door, jump on the bike, get in the pool, put on the skate and get moving.

5 Begin at a comfortable pace—one that is easy to sustain without getting out of breath. You may feel a slight glow and have to take the deep breaths occasionally, but you should be comfortable. If not, back off, because you have started too fast.

20 After 5 minutes, increase the speed, grade, or intensity in a way appropriate to your mode of exercise so that you are moving faster and breathing deeper in a rhythmic way. If you are gasping for air, slow down! This is a pace you want to sustain for the next 20 minutes. You should start to sweat – that’s good because it means your cooling system is working just fine.

5 Reduce the intensity for 5 minutes to cool down—same pace as you warm-up—and you are done. Time to hit the showers

This is the simple as approach to cardio exercise and it’s effective. It’s always good to have a workout buddy to make sure your form is correct, to make the times go faster, and to drag you to the weights when you feel like skipping your workout.

Although it is recommended that you do 30 minutes continuous exercise for better result, you can do 10 minutes three times a day. You can also change the type of exercise you do. Walk in the morning and ride an exercise bike in the evening. Variety can spice up your workouts.

Is 30 minutes enough to burn fat?

There is no such thing as fat burning exercise! As long as you don’t over-eat, your body will be forced to burn fat throughout the day. The best thing to do is to exercise as hard as you can to use as much total energy as possible—then after your body uses up all of the readily available carb, it will have to burn fat.

Weight training workout

If the heaviest weight you have ever lifted was yourself out of an easy chair to go get another snack, or you have lifted in the past but now it’s just a faded memory, this foundation weight training program is the place to begin. And you don’t have to go to the gym if you don’t want to. You can do this program your living room.

You can use the elastic bands or surgical tubing or dumbbells for resistance. Either way, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars for equipment just to get started we are.

The promise is no more than 30 minutes per day for three days a week. It can be Monday-Wednesday-Friday, choose a-Thursday-Saturday, or any other combination as long as there is a day of rest between weight training exercises.

Weight training lingo such as reps, sets, and rest…Reps are repetitions – how often do you do in action. Sets are groups of reps –for example, you do an action 15 times and that equals one set. Rest means relax—you don’t have to put your head down on your desk, just hang loose and let your muscles recover.

Some cautions

Never hold your breath! Breathe out on exertion and in when returning to starting position. This includes abdominal exercises as well. Holding your breath builds up pressure in you chest cavity. The effect is t make your heart beast harder wile you’re lifting and limits the return of blood to your heart.

Start slowly to prevent injuries. You will make gains quickly and avoid the pain and possible injury of doing too much, too fast.

Don’t lift alone if you are using free weights. Too many injuries occur when people lifting heavy weight don’t have a spotter and drop a weight on themselves. Be safe because you can lose a lot of time in recovery.

What Is A Healthy Body?

It’s a body that helps you achieve you goals.

It gives you the energy you need for work and play.

It provides you with the stamina you need for the lifestyle you want.

It provides a reserve when you face health challenges and emergencies.

It’s strong so you can take care of yourself at any age.

Above all, it’s a body with a normal weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar level.

That’s what a healthy body is, you can have one too. Here we show you the way, but know this: you need to earn your healthy body every day.

There are two major parts to a healthy body: nutrition and exercise. We will focus on the exercise and will take up nutrition in another post.

There are two body systems you want operating well because every other system relies on them: the heart and blood vessels, called the cardiovascular system and the muscular system. Therefore, you need two types of training to be fit: cardio-exercise and weight- training.

Cardio exercise

The body depends on the heart and blood vessels to transport good things into your body’s cells and cellular waste products out. To be fit and healthy, you need this system working at peak capacity. When this system works well, you can:

• Reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease-both heart attack and stroke
• Reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes
• Make bone stronger
• Reduce body fat
• Improve the functioning of your digestive system
• Improve immune function
• Reduce stress level
• Increased libido and decreased impotence
• Improve your hearing and memory… And list goes on, but we think you get the point

Muscular system and weight-training

Building muscle is important for times when we need strength, such as carrying heavy objects. But did you know that muscle mass is metabolically more active than fat? Adding muscle will use calories all day long. So in order to rev it up, you need to build it up.

Too many people invest time but don’t focus on the quality of their workouts. Most of the people who spend hours in the gym aren’t working hard the entire time, and lounging around and dawdling won’t improve your health. When it comes to fitness, you only get out what you put into it. It isn’t so much the quantity but the quality of exercise that important.

Fitness For Life

Fitness for life is a condition which we almost all desire, but few of us pursue with vigor. To attain and maintain it requires adequate and balanced nourishment, adequate and varied exercise, adequate but not excessive sleep, avoidance of excess in using social drugs, plentiful stimulation without excessive stress, and psychosocial well-being.

Fitness is a term that is used to help define the ability to stay in the best physical shape. You may ask, then, “What am I staying in shape for?” To each person, this will be something different.

For most, it is a matter of staying healthy as long as possible. The human body is designed to work as a machine. When each part of the machine is cared for, the entire machine works the best that it can. When the machine is neglected either in part or in the whole, then the machine won’t run well and eventually won’t run at all.

If a car, for example, is well maintained for many years, it will last many years longer. If it isn’t taken care of, for example you don’t change the oil in it, you cut several years off the life of the car. That’s costly to you, but when you look at this as your body, you are shaving away days, weeks, and even years off of your life when you don’t take care of your machine (your body.)

Fitness is a necessary part of life. Remember that fitness is something that you can get into the habit of doing which makes it easy.