Personal Trainer Tips: February 2016

Thursday, February 25, 2016

5 Facts That Might Surprise You About Your Heart

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Think you’re pretty well-schooled on what makes your ticker tick? Sure, you took anatomy class, perhaps studied the human body in your science courses and totally remember the names of the four chambers of your heart. You’ve got down pat the roles of arteries and veins, and understand that your heart is responsible for pumping blood to your entire body. You know that exercise makes the heart-healthy list, and twice-a-day doughnuts definitely do not. During American Heart Month, we like to pause to pay homage to this tireless organ who keeps us alive by endlessly working every minute of every day. To celebrate the heart, we’d like to share some facts about your heart that might surprise even you, Hearty Smarty.

With each beat, your heart pumps two to three ounces of blood. That works out to 2000 gallons per day. In fact, the heart is constantly pumping those gallons of blood to nearly all of the 75 trillion cells in your body. Only the corneas do not receive blood from your heart.
Every day the heart generates enough power to drive a truck for 20 miles. If the heart’s energy were converted to electricity, your heart could do the grocery run and back without a gas-stop.
This hardest-working muscle in your body cannot fatigue. Your heart can get weak for other reasons, but it does not get tired from its daily job. To get a true appreciation for its endurance, imagine trying to squeeze a tennis ball in your hand (this is comparable to the force of a beating heart) 100,000 times a day, every day. Amazing, considering that your heart starts beating four weeks after conception, and doesn’t stop beating until you die.
The sappy love songs are right, after all – strong emotions really can “break your heart.” Under extreme sadness or stress, “takotsubo cardiomyopathy” can take place, which paralyzes a large portion of the heart. This event mimics a heart attack, and affects mostly women in their 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Fortunately, there is usually no lasting heart damage from this temporary condition.
Do two hearts really beat as one? Scientists at the University of California attached heart rate monitors to couples in love, and found that their breathing rates and heart rates would synchronize when they were seated near each other. It was found that the woman’s heart rate would adjust more to match that of her partner’s. When seated near strangers, there was no matching of heart rate detected in the participants. A heartbeat synchronization has also been found between friends or relatives when test subjects watched a loved one experience a stressful situation.

During American Heart Month, while we sing praises to the hard-working dynamo inside us, we also need to pause for a grim reality. Heart disease continues to be the number one cause of death in men and women in our country, claiming 1 in 4 deaths. However, eating a low-sodium diet that is rich in heart-healthy foods, exercising and keeping your stress levels in check can dramatically increase your cardiac well-being. Heck - even learning more about your heart can decrease your own chance of developing heart disease. Now that you’ve got a few more facts in your heart-smart arsenal, you can be the bearer of heart health to the ones you love.

At Fitness Together®, we can help you get started on a heart-healthy exercise plan with our certified personal trainers. Our studios also offer an opportunity to increase your knowledge of heart-healthy nutrition with our science-based nutrition program, Nutrition Together®. To learn more about both, find a studio near you: http://fitnesstogether.com/find-a-studio

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Top 4 Ways to Sneak Fitness in on Game Day

Top 4 Ways to Sneak Fitness in on Game Day

Feb 6, 2016

The countdown to the Big Game has begun. You’ve got everything ready to go for your family and friends. TV warmed up and showing the pregame coverage – check. Impressive array of dips, chips, appetizers, and a multitude of beverages – check. Comfy sofa primed for the four-hour marathon of football excellence – check. As you run through your must-have checklist, you realize that there is actually very little about this big Sunday that supports the healthy habits you’re working so hard to develop and maintain. Hours of sitting, eating, and drinking? It doesn’t sound half bad, unless you are striving for a lifestyle of moving more and eating less and/or smarter. You can almost see your sweaty workout sessions and careful meal planning going down the drain as you face bowls of chips and cheese dip and platters of wings and brownies. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case. It’s actually possible to support your healthy endeavors while enjoying the Big Game. Heck, you may even enjoy yourself more.

Get your workout in early. This is smart fitness planning in many situations. If you know that you’ve got a big meal out or dinner party coming up later, go ahead and work out – either with your trainer or on your own – early in the day. It will give you energy for the event ahead, and help keep your health priorities in check as you face those tempting snacks and treats.
Hustle your Halftime. Take advantage of the lengthy commentary and replays of field goals and fumbles to step away from the game, and step outside for a brisk walk or jog. A little aerobic heart pumping might be just what you need to increase your energy and keep your priorities in check. Plus, if you’re actually hankering to watch today’s pop stars strut their Halftime stuff, there’s always the DVR.
Make a game out of the game. Every time there’s a first down, knock out 15 jumping jacks. A punt earns 10 pushups. A touchdown score? That calls for a few burpees. Sure, it’s similar to games of a different nature you might have played in college, but this one will leave you feeling energized and healthy, with a nice healthy buzz.
Makeover your munchies. We all love how delicious appetizers and the biggest football game of the year go hand-in-hand. Entire parties are built on this very concept. However, you don’t need to kiss your fitness goodbye as you watch the game. Brilliant ideas abound online for healthy snack makeovers, but a few tried and true favorites of ours include: subbing celery for tortilla chips for dipping into salsas and yogurt dips; making veggie chips out of baking thinly sliced zucchini, turnips, or beets coated with a little olive oil and salt; building your bean and veggie nachos on a pile of homemade sweet potato fries.

Now granted, one afternoon of indulgence isn’t going to make or break your healthy endeavors. A few dressing-soaked hot wings or football-shaped cupcakes in one day won’t ruin your waistline. However, this Sunday is just one day in a sea of “special” events, parties, and holidays. Making a practice of staying victorious over your junk food temptations on a regular basis will be just one more healthy habit you’ve got under your belt. So even if your team doesn’t win, you will.

At Fitness Together, our personal trainers can not only help you with your fitness goals, but with your nutritional goals as well. Find a studio near you: http://fitnesstogether.com/find-a-studio