Obsessed by obesity

A client mentioned this week how someone she hadn't seen for a while had told her she'd noticed that she'd lost weight. Now, if this person had a habit of picking my client up everytime she sees her, then, "you've lost weight" could have been a valid comment. Surely by looking at someone you can only tell if they're slimmer or more toned. To know if someone has lost weight you need to determine how heavy they are. So why do we have this fixation with weight (or if I'm being really pedantic, mass)?

The point I'm trying to make is that you can't see if someone has lost weight. You cannot tell how fit and healthy someone is by looking at them or, in my opinion even by measuring weight, yet this is something that current health campaigns seem to be focusing on.

I can understand why health campaigners are targeting obesity. It's a recognised risk factor for a number of medical conditions including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers. But is the focus on body image and obesity doing more harm than good? Let's look at some very simple facts about weight and health.

FACT 1 If you eat too much and don't do enough exercise you are more likely to gain weight.

FACT 2 Some people can have a poor diet, do very little physical activity and not be overweight

FACT 3 Some people can eat healthily, do regular exercise and still be overweight

There's two main reasons why I feel this emphasis on weight is leading to a less healthy population.

Firstly, it allows people who do not do enough physical activity (over 70% of the population acording to the British Heart Foundation) and have a poor diet, to believe that they don't need to make any changes as long as they're not 'overweight'.

Secondly, for those who are considered overweight or obese how do these campaigns make them feel? According to a survey only 25% of women were happy with their body weight and 22% admitted to staying at home because they didn't think they looked good. Now, if so many people already have such negative thoughts about their body image, will focusing on weight really help to improve peoples health? This approach is much more likely to make people feel bad about themselves and less likely to get out of the house to take up a more active lifestyle.

Surely it would be far better to emphasise more positive goals. Focusing on being stronger, fitter and healthier conjures up much more positive thoughts than focusing on losing weight. It's what you want that's important. Not what you don't want.

Here are some body boosting activities - adapted from Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199702/survey-says-body-image-poll-results

1. Exercise for health, fitness and strength rather than focusing on weight control.
2. Do activities that help you feel good about yourself.
3. Move your body in ways that feel good.
4. Focus on how your body functions rather than how it looks.
5. Set goals to recognise achievements in terms of exercise sessions completed rather than short term aesthetic changes.

Exercising at the right intensity

We all know we need to be more active, but how much exercise do you need to do, how hard do you need to work and is there such a thing as too much exercise?

Heart rate monitors can provide useful feedback as to exercise intensity and enable you to train more effectively.

Maximum heart rate is the highest number of heartbeats per minute during maximal exertion. For most people, a rough guide to maximum heart rate is to use 220 minus your age, so for example a 40 year old would have an estimated maximum heart rate of 180 beats per minute. Once you've determined your maximum heart rate you can determine the targets zones for your exercising heart rate.

A fairly basic heart rate monitor such as Polar's FS2C, measures heart rate and highest and average heart rate during a session, as well as having the ability to set target heart rate zones with an audible warning when you go below or above your set zone.

Different Training Intensities based on percentage of maximum heart rate

Less than 60% - Improves basic fitness when new to exercise. For regular exercises this low intensity exercise can help aid recovery from higher intensity sessions.

60-70% - Improves basic fitness and provides a foundation for higher intensity activities. Ideal intensity for long duration exercise.

70-80% - Will be starting to feel hard going. Greater improvement in fitness, though only perform exercise at this intensity 2 to 3 times a week and ensure adequate recovery between sessions.

80-90% - Used mainly for interval type training. Develops fitness levels quickly but requires adequate base fitness levels before introducing this type of training to your workouts. Can easily lead to overtraining which may force you to take a long break from your training.

Over 90% - Benefits are primarily psychological and used only for sports performance training. Not appropriate for general fitness training.

The Polar F4 monitor also calculates number of calories used during exercise. Whilst I'm not an advocate of counting calories for weight loss (in my opinion types of food and efficient metabolism are more important) using calories as a measure of workload can be very effective.

Research carried out at Stanford University found that the risk of heart attack is, as you would probably expect, much higher in those who do least physical activity. Those doing less than 500 calories of physical activity in a week (half an hour of walking at 4mph is approximately 150 calories) were most at risk. Incidents of heart attack in this group was around double that of those doing between 2000-3000 calories of physical activity a week, which was found to be the optimum level. Above 3,000 calories activity a week, incidence of heart attack increased slightly, indicating that you can do too much, though even the most active people were much less at risk of heart attack than those who did less than 500 calories of activity a week.

2,000 calories of exercise a week equates to around 6 hours of moderate intensity activity. Much more than the government's advice of 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity on 5 or more days of the week, and probably more than most people feel they have time for. To burn more calories in less time you will need to increase intensity. Nordic Walking has been shown to increase calorie expenditure by up to 46%, therefore 3 x 1 hour Nordic walking sessions a week could be 1300 calories. compared to 3 hours of ordinary walking which would use around 900 calories. A high intensity activity such as Spinning can burn around 300 calories in a half hour class.

Making sure that you don't overdo your training is another important consideration. Planning your training to allow sufficient recovery after high intensity training is important. To really get the best out of your training, a monitor like Polar's F6 determines correct exercise intensity based on heart rate variability. This detects how stressed the body is before exercise and recommends the appropriate level of intensity for a particular session.

View the range of Polar heart rate monitors at Escape Fitness

Coopers Droopers - Breast Support

York sports bra retailer, Elizabeth Wells explains the importance of getting the right support for exercise.

What’s all the fuss about?
So you may, or may not have heard about Coopers Ligament. It’s the ligament that holds up and supports the breast, very important as we ladies try to defy gravity!

Why is it important?
Coopers Ligaments run from the nipple to the pectoral muscle; attaching the fatty tissue of the breast to the pectoral muscles of the chest wall. While we can exercise to improve the tone of the muscles behind the breast; they are just this – behind the breast. They form the foundation of what your breast tissue lies upon but they do not support the fatty tissue that makes up your breast. You may have strong pectoral and chest muscles but still suffer from saggy boobs! It is so important that we look after Coopers Ligament giving it extra support when exercising, as well as supporting properly it everyday.

Why do boobs sag?
Without the internal support of this ligament, the breast tissue sags under its own weight, losing its normal shape and contour. Naturally over time, and as we get older this ligament stretches, this process is accelerated by not supporting the breast properly. During exercise the ligament becomes pulled and stretched; loosing its elasticity leading to irreversible sagging. Portsmouth University found breasts moved in a 3D figure of eight, this uncontrolled movement strained fragile tissues and ligaments – sounds painful!

Exercise is painful!
Many women experience pain during exercise – sadly this puts them of doing it! Pain is often across your back, particularly if you have larger breasts, as well as general pain from the breast bouncing up and down and from side to side. A fitted sports bra will minimise pain and discomfort across your back and across your chest as the bust is lifted into place and held snugly, dramatically reducing movement caused by exercise. Now you will be able to exercise at a better quality as your pain is removed thus getting more from your workout!

How can I stop the sagging!
Poorly fitting bras and exercising in non-supportive bras will results in permanent stretching of the Coopers Ligaments leading to irreversible sagging, an average breast can bounce as much as 4.7inches up and down with minimal support! It is so important to get fitted every time you buy a new bra. There are non compression sports bars available in soft or wired styles; it is your choice as to which you prefer. An encapsulating bra minimises bounce and will lift, separate and support the breast a lot better than the old fashioned compression bras (they also have the added advantage of giving a great shape!). The importance of being fitted correctly cannot be stressed enough.

Where Now!
Dr Chris (GMTV) recommends the Freya Active range, which are unique in their non-compression design. There is no sports bra like it, due to its design Freya is set to revolutionise the sports bra market.

Health & Fitness Magazine put their running shoes on to rigorously test the best high impact sports bras and we at Elizabeth Wells are proud to say that Freya Active came out on top receiving 5 out of 5 in all categories which include style, performance and features.

Elizabeth Wells Lingerie, 23 Shambles has a trained bra fitter (who is also a keen runner!) ready to fit you out in a new sports bra which as well as being engineered to fit, makes use of the best fabrics with wicking properties and comfortable to wear. www.elizabethwells.co.uk

When and how to stretch

I was in London on Friday for a Power Plate training course. One of the issues that came up was the subject of stretching. It's an area that causes confusion within the fitness industry as well as to the general public.

Static stretching (holding a fixed position, usually for between 10-30 seconds) at the start of a workout is now generally frowned upon, unless done to address a specific muscle imbalance. Static stretching lengthens a muscle and if done before exercise can cause an instability in the joint.

I use Muscle Activation Technique when working with clients. The principle behind MAT is fantastically simple. If it's tight stretch it. If it's weak strengthen it. The difficult part is identifying if a muscle is tight through overuse or if it's tightened up to protect a joint due to another muscle being weak. If muscle tightness is caused by muscle weakness (which in my experience is often the case) a series of strengthening exercises are more effective than stretches.

Static stretching after exercise is still prescribed by many fitness professionals, particularly in classes. Research suggests that this may not always be a good idea. If the exercise has caused micro tears in the muscles, stretching can increase the size of these tears which isn't a particularly good idea. This is more of a problem with high intensity exercise, though without scanning muscles after exercise it is impossible to tell if any damage to the muscles has occurred.

So am I suggesting that people don't stretch at all. Absolutely not. A full warm-up is extremely important, but this should involve mobility type exercises and dynamic stretches to gently warm the muscles and increase range of motion through the joints in a way specific for the activity to follow.

Flexibility is important, but making time for specific stretching sessions, particularly activities such as yoga which are designed to stretch and strengthen muscles is a much more effective approach.

Is Power Plate for everyone?

Regular followers of the blog will be aware that I'm a great believer in using personality type to determine approach to exercise, and that I'm also an Advanced Level Power Plate instructor. I regularly train clients using Powerplate at a studio in York and a gym in Easingwold.

It therefore seemed logical to look at what personality types are likely to be drawn to Power Plate training and why. The fitness personality colours I refer to are taken from Suzanne Brue's fitness personality quiz. To find out more and to find your fitness personality colour follow the link at the bottom of the post.

Vibration training is considered as a new trend within the fitness industry, the sort of activity that would generally appeal to the Play/Abstract types, namely Silver and Saffron. Equally quick to get bored with an activity as they are to get started, the main principle with this group is to allow plenty of flow and variety within the choice of exercises.

Whilst Power Plate machines have only become widely seen in gyms over the last few years, the concept of vibration training is not new at all. The principle was developed in the late 1960's by the Russians as a way of enabling astronauts to avoid muscle wasting and reduced bone density whilst living and working on the Space Station. It's even been documented that the Ancient Greeks had developed a form of vibration training by exercising on a wooden platform whilst vibrations were created on the platform by sawing the wood.

The science behind vibration training - likely to appeal to the Whites and Purples - is very simply Newton's Second Law of Gravity

FORCE = MASS x ACCELERATION

Instead of using an external mass such as dumbbells, barbell or resistance machine along with movement (acceleration) generated by moving the body (ie lifting weight), vibration training provides the movement through the vibrating platform and the mass is the users bodyweight being held in a specific position.

The exercises used on power plate are fairly traditional movement patterns such as press up, triceps dip and squat. The ability to train without using weights or movement reduces the risk of injury associated with training with free weights. These factors, plus the ability to closely monitor progress by recording time and settings used for each exercise, should appeal to the Blue and Gold personality types who look for safety, tradition and the ability to plan and monitor progress.

The Play/Concrete types - Reds and Greens, preferring mainly outdoor activities would be less likely to be drawn towards Power Plate training. That is unless they are looking to recover from injury. Reds in particular tend to go all out and injury is one of the main reasons for this personality type not exercising. When they can be persuaded to train to avoid injury and improve performance, Power Plate can be a good choice due to the time saving over conventional resistance training, giving them more time to pursue their chosen activity.

Versatility is certainly one of the reasons I have trained so many clients using Power Plate. It's also the reason the machines are being used by such a wide group of people; from physiotherapists working with groups including MS and Parkinsons sufferers and to speed up recovery after surgery, by exercisers who appreciate the ease of use and time saving, through to professional golfers and sports teams including Manchester United and Chelsea.

Discover your fitness personality

Personality Type and exercise choice

When you think about starting to exercise, how much thought do you give to the choice of activity? You may have decided that you want to lose weight, be fitter, feel better or have more energy, but how do you go about finding an activity that will achieve what you want, and just as importantly ensure that you stay active long term. This is especially fitting this time of year when many people have already started and given up on new years resolutions to be more active.

Over the past year I have been incorporating something called Fitness Personality Profiling when working with my personal training clients. It's been fascinating to see how different personality types respond to different types of activities in different ways.

The system of fitness personality profiling has been pioneered by Suzanne Brue, an expert on psychological type and the connection between physical activity and personality type. Suzanne uses 8 colours- Red, Green, Blue, Gold, White, Purple, Silver and Saffron to describe the 8 different personality types that have very different approaches to exercise.

Flicking through a monthly advertising magazine pushed through the letterbox this morning, I noticed a number of new fitness activities advertised in the York area and started thinking how they would appeal to different personality types.

British Military Fitness has just started running outdoor classes in York. Military Fitness classes are run by serving or former members of the Armed Forces. This is the approach that many people think about when you mention personal training. They think of the drill sergeant yelling orders, a bit like Harvey from Celebrity Fit Club. This approach can be very effective in getting results, but is also the reason a lot of personality types shy away from exercise or feel that exercise isn't for them. This type of exercise will certainly appeal to Reds. They love the physical challenge and if they can push themselves to compete against others in the group, so much the better. Greens may also enjoy such a class, mainly for the opportunity to get outdoors, though will also enjoy the physical challenge, provided they can feel that they are competing with themselves rather than being pushed to compete openly with others. Blues and Golds may also be regulars in such a class, provided the environment and activities are considered safe and that they know what they should be doing and what is expected from them. A big difference between the Reds/Greens and Blue/Golds is that the former will expect to have fun and enjoy the activity, whereas the Blues/Golds will be there more for the results. The more abstract types - Silver, Saffrons, Purples and Whites are unlikely to be drawn towards Boot Camp style training.

Another new class advertised is York Dance Factory who run street dance classes. Dance generally appeals to Saffrons and Silvers who love the flow and opportunity for creative expression that dance provides. This type of class may also appeal to Reds as a fun, high energy activity. It is unlikely to appeal to Greens who would generally rather connect with the outdoors rather than their own creative side. The "Job" types - Blue, Gold, White, Purple, will generally not regard dance as being structured enough to provide the monitored improvements that they will look for when following an exercise program.

By knowing your personality type you can ensure that new activities started this year are right for you. Many people feel that they have failed when they give up on a new activity, rather than realising that it just wasn't the right approach for them.

Follow the link below to find your Fitness Personality Type.

Find your fitness personality

Post event sports massage

Having tackled the arduous Yorkshire 3 Peaks and completed the 24.5 miles and 1600 metres of climb within 12 hours, the sense of achievement was incredible, reduced only by the severe tightness in my calf muscles caused by trekking through miles of boggy ground whilst walking the 10 or so miles between Pen-y-ghent and Whernside. As a personal trainer I need to be out training with clients, and as a lot of the work I do involves running and Nordic Walking I needed to be fully recovered as soon as possible.

I went to see Mark Tipping of Body-Fix Wellness Clinic in Barlby, near Selby and couldn't believe the difference half an hour of sports massage made. Most of the soreness wore off almost immediately and my movement improved straight away.

I will certainly be recommending Mark for pre and post event massage therapy to any clients who are taking part in endurance events such as marathons or treks as well as those competing in sports. The benefits of regular massage in speeding up the recovery process and avoiding future more serious injuries should not be overlooked.

Mark can be contacted for sports massage therapy at Body-Fix Wellness Clinic, Selby on 07894 705826