BlueSkies Newsletter - January 2009
Happy New Year!
Welcome to January's edition of the BlueSkies newsletter!
Last January, we looked at detoxing, how to get healthy in the new year and how to stick to your resolutions. This year, we're covering different topics but if you'd like to read last January's newsletter, please click here.
In this month's newsletter, you can read our articles on:
The Principles Of Training - how to optimise your fitness training
Aging Actively - how to stay active in later life
Awful Additives - how to cleanse your child's diet of additives
Also, find out why ginger is so good for you and how circuit training can help you to shift any extra pounds you gained over the festive period.
The Principles Of Training
Ever wondered how to plan and progress your training to get the most out of it? Well, if you follow the basic 'principles of training' which are used by elite trainers all over the world, you can't go wrong!
A well-planned programme which follows these simple rules will improve your fitness. However, a poorly planned programme will end up with you doing either too little and not achieving your goals or too much and risking injury and illness. The principles of training apply to men and women, young and old.
Overload
This is perhaps the fundamental principle of fitness and it is based around the fact that you need to 'stress' your body in order for it to adapt. Challenging your body by overloading it makes it respond and become more efficient i.e. stronger and fitter. However, the initial response to overload is fatigue, so you have to give your body time to recover in between sessions.
Specificity
The way the body adapts depends upon how the overload is placed upon it e.g. CV exercise will mainly develop the CV system. Training is most effective when it is specific i.e. when you use the muscles required for performance. Therefore, swimmers should perform the majority of their training in the pool, not on a bike.
Progression
This principle tells us that doing the same thing week in, week out will not result in continuous improvements as the body will not be challenged. Progression can be applied by:
- Increasing intensity i.e. how fast you run or how much weight you lift
- Increasing frequency i.e. how many sessions you perform per week
- Increasing duration i.e. how long your training sessions are
Progression is a continuation of overload. As your body gets used to the stress placed upon it, you need to increase the overload. This ensures that you continue to challenge your body and get a training response. If overload is not increased, fitness plateaus and no further improvements will be made. However, progression should be gradual, if it is too rapid you risk injury or illness.
Reversibility
Use it or lose it! If you stop your training or reduce the intensity, this is known as 'detraining' and will cause a gradual loss in fitness. After just 1-2 weeks of detraining, significant reductions in fitness are seen and many training improvements will be lost completely after several months.
Individual Difference
Everyone is different so training programmes need to be too. Genetics determine your heart & lung size, muscle characteristics & physique - these factors determine your 'trainability'. Other factors, such as age, gender, starting fitness, injury history & diet also need to be taken into account when developing a programme. Creating effective programmes may not be as easy as it seems!
Recovery
Although not strictly one of the principles, it is one of the most important parts of a programme. Exercise challenges the body, providing a stimulus for development. The body responds by becoming fitter, but it can only do this if it is allowed adequate recovery time. Insufficient recovery can lead to injury, illness and, potentially, over-training.
Over-Training
As stated above, this is normally a result of insufficient recovery. Constantly overloading the body without allowing it to recover & adapt can lead to long-term injury, illness and losses in performance. Adequate recovery and rest periods can help to avoid this.
Unfortunately, even the experts cannot agree on the definitive symptoms of over-training but when you are training as hard as ever, if not harder, and performance plateaus or even decreases this is a clear indication something is wrong. Other things to watch out for include increased resting heart rate, unexplained weight loss, altered sleep patterns, recurrent colds, overuse injuries & feelings of staleness.
Need A Hand Designing Your Programme?
As mentioned above, developing a training programme is not as easy as it may seem. So, if you could do with a helping hand, why not contact us? BlueSkies have worked with clients from a wide variety of fitness and sporting backgrounds, from complete beginners to elite athletes competing on the world stage. Therefore, we are confident that we will be able to help you improve your fitness, whatever your goals. You can contact us by e-mail by clicking here.
Activity Of The Month - Circuit Training
If you're looking for a way to get yourself back in shape after the festive season or you want to add a bit of variety to your training, why not try circuit training? Although often shunned because of its association with military-type fitness regimes, circuit training is a great way to get fit and burn calories. The beauty of this type of training is that it allows you to perform whole body, cardiovascular and strength training in one session, thus maximising the time that you invest.
Circuit training normally takes the form of alternating CV and strength exercises which are performed for a set period of time with a set recovery time between each exercise. Most gyms and health clubs will run their own circuits classes and these are ideal if you like group-exercise. However, it's very easy to set up a circuit at home too. In fact, you can perform a good workout using just a resistance band and your body weight and it works out much cheaper than classes. Click here to visit the BlueSkies shop to purchase resistance bands.
Aging Actively!
The good thing about getting older is that you can step back from the strains and stresses of everyday life, put your feet up and relax with not a care in the world - right? Well, you could if you wanted to, but then you'd be missing out on the multitude of benefits that can be gained from getting active and staying active in your later years.
Imagine yourself at 70.....will you be able to walk up the stairs, carry your shopping and play with your grandchildren? Well, if you're healthy and active, yes you will! In fact, you'll be able to do all of these things and much, much more because the loss of function associated with aging in mainly due to inactivity.
It's Never Too Late
Even if you've never been active before, it's never too late to start - nobody is too old to enjoy the great feeling of vitality and the health benefits associated with regular activity.
In fact, older people have more to gain than younger people as they are at a higher risk of the type of problems that regular activity can help to prevent and manage such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Simply starting to be active at any age will lower your risk of developing a wide range of medical condition.
Just A Little Bit
The next bit of good news is that you don't need to devote hours a day to activity - investing just a small amount of time every day in becoming active can pay big dividends. Research shows that significant health benefits can be gained from performing just 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity on most days of the week.
Almost anything counts towards your 30 minutes - from walking to gardening, cycling to dancing, bowling to swimming - as long as it makes you breathe a little faster, increases your heart rate slightly and makes you feel a little warm. You don't even need to do the 30 minutes all in one go - you can split it into 2 or 3 lots of 10 to 15 minutes and still get the benefits. However, it's the same old story, the more you do and the more often you do it, the greater the benefits!
Balancing Act
Falls are one of the major causes of injury in olderpeople but there's good news here too - people who are physically active are less likely to fall as they will have stronger muscles and a better sense of balance. Additionally, recent research has shown that regular activity may make wound healing processes up to 25% quicker in older people - the quicker a wound heals, the less chance there is of it becoming infected.
What Are The Benefits?
Scientific studies show that regular physical activity in older people has a plethora of benefits including:
- Lower mortality risk
- Decreased risk of developing heart disease
- Reduced risk, and better management, of chronic diseases i.e. diabetes, high blood pressure, colon cancer, obesity and high cholesterol
- Improved quality of life die to improved functionality and increased ability to stay independent
- Improved mood and feeling of well-being
- Relief of symptoms of depression
- Improved function in persons with arthritis
- Decreased risk of osteoporosis
- Lower risk of falls and injury
So, what are you waiting for? If outdoors exercise isn't your thing, why not try an indoor workout such as BlueSkies home workout? If you want to get outside, think about cycling or walking. Or, if you've never tried it, how about giving the local gym a go? Whatever you do, just remember, you're never too old!
Awful Additives!
Is your child's health and behaviour at risk due to the food they eat? One study, funded by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), found a connection between behaviour & certain health problems in children and some artificial colourings & preservatives. Experts are now calling for all manufacturers and supermarkets to remove additives from children's foods. But what should you look out for to make sure your child is not affected?
The simplest thing to do is not to feed your children foods that contain additives by preparing all food from fresh ingredients at home, but this isn't always achievable. So, if you are buying pre-prepared foods, what should you look for?
Additives are substances used to enhance foods - they are often referred to as E-numbers because, in the EU, additives are known by numbers prefixed by an E. The additives tested in the recent study were E102, E124, E110, E122, E104, E129 and E211 which are colourings and preservatives commonly found in sweets, fizzy drinks and snacks. These additives have been linked to asthma, hyperactivity, allergies and rashes amongst other things.
Although some supermarkets and manufacturers have removed artificial additives from certain products, and others are in the process of doing so, there are ways you can avoid these nutritionally useless ingredients including:
- When buying pre-prepared foods, pick those with ingredients lists which you can understand. Long, chemical-sounding words are likely to be additives.
- If the words preservative, flavouring, emulsifier or colouring appear on the ingredients list, the product is likely to contain artificial additives.
- Pick the best quality foods you can afford - choosing 85% meat products instead of 60% minimises the amount of 'other ingredients' present.
- Remember, not all E numbers are bad! Some are natural sources of vitamins such as Vitamin C (E300-304) and Vitamin E (E306-309).
- Try buying frozen foods as they are less likely to contain additives, but still check the labels.
- Be aware of marketing ploys - 'NO artificial colours' written on the pack suggests that it still contains other artificial ingredients such as preservatives, flavours or emulsifiers.
Food Of The Month - Ginger
In this cold winter that we're having, why not warm yourself up by adding a little ginger to your food and drink? Not only will it spice up your diet, it may also benefit your health. If your digestive system is feeling a little worse for wear after Christmas and the New Year, ginger may be of particular use to you. Ginger is believed to have a beneficial influence upon a wide range of digestive ailments from nausea to diarrhoea to flatulence and this is one of the reasons that it is such a popular, natural remedy for morning sickness.
Ginger may also help to reduce inflammation such as that caused by arthritis, improve circulation, lower blood pressure, reduce cold & flu symptoms and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. You can use ginger in its dried or powdered form but the fresh form is much better and it will keep in the fridge for ages!
Thanks For Reading!
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