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09/25/11
Health Tip: Traditional “Talk Test” Sets the Bar Too Low for Fit
Individuals
The “Talk Test,” whether or not you can speak aloud without gasping for
air as you exercise, has become a standard for gauging if you are working
out at the right intensity to improve your fitness and health.
Conventional advice has said, if you can, you are working out at the right
intensity.
Information published September 21, 2011 in the New York Times from a new
study from the University of New Hampshire suggests that for the
physically fit and active, this measure is short changing our abilities
and stunting our progress.
Why? Original research resulting in the “Talk Test” used participants that
were either physically unfit or sedentary. The new research tested only
men and women who were regular exercisers and already possessed
above-average fitness.
Researchers in the new study looked at maximum heart rate and
oxygen-carrying capacity, or VO2 max as well as the lactate threshold, the
point at which the muscles tend to give out. Multiple studies have proven
that to increase your endurance, strength and speed, you need to
occasionally work out at an intensity that hovers just below your lactate
threshold.
The fit participants were put on a treadmill on increasing intensity and
every few minutes they recited the Pledge of Allegiance as well as
reported on the facility of their breath. The test progressed in intensity
until a final gasped “can’t talk.”
What the researchers found in these fit test cases was that they ran into
a considerable amount of difficulty talking just as they approached their
lactate threshold. When the participants could easily speak, their heart
rate and VO2 max were not yet at a challenging level to improve their
fitness.
So why the deviation from the original findings that warranted the “Talk
Test?” One big reason is that sedentary and unfit people have a higher
resting heart rate than fit people. Getting their heart rate up to a
health and fitness-promoting level happens with much less physical
challenge on a walk, run or in an exercise class than it does for a fitter
person with a lower resting heart rate.
So if you are looking to shave some time off your 5K or lift your leg
higher as you hold plank and go down for those final 10 pushups and you
become unable to complete a sentence without catching your breath, “you
are at the cusp of the lactate threshold — and are most likely improving
your fitness.”
09/18/11
Health Tip: Stand Up (at your desk job) for Your Health
September 13th’s Charlotte Observer article “Don't
just sit there, stand up at your desk, experts suggest” explores the
benefits of standing while working at your desk job. Recent research shows
that sitting at a desk all day is unhealthy even for those of us who work
out regularly.
The simple act of standing during the day with intermittent sitting not
only burns more calories, but also promotes a healthy body, the article
states. Research is finding that those of us with desk jobs have a much
higher incidence of diabetes, the reason possibly being because muscle
contraction that occurs when standing and moving around helps prevent
insulin sensitivity.
We’re not so sure your boss is going to immediately go for buying you a
standing desk or treadmill, so we suggest as a few ideas to get your body
moving while at work. Our March 27, 2011 Health Tip:
More On Office Workout Tips
addresses several solutions for you desk
jockies, and here are two easy changes you can make immediately:
- Exchange your chair for an exercise ball. Not only will you stay in
proper alignment but you will work your core muscles and even have a
little fun bouncing around.
- Stand or pace while talking on the phone…(Shouldn’t be too hard in
this business environment!)
For full Charlotte Observer article, please
click here. |
09/11/11
Health Tip: Alzheimer’s Disease: You Can Do Something About It (and it may
involve some pliés with bicep curls!)
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, HSM and other
resistance-training exercises requiring your attention and coordination
improve brain functionality. Adding more fuel to our fire, new research
unveiled this July in Paris at the Alzheimer’s Association International
Conference proves that taking care of your body will help save your mind.
A common misconception is that you’re “dealt a deck of cards at birth,”
Mayo Clinic dementia specialist Dr. Ronald Petersen said, but “people need
not just sit back and watch this unfold. We can do something about this.”
What Petersen and a growing number of researchers and specialists are
advocating is preventative treatment to the body (exercise) to save the
mind from dementia and Alzheimer’s.
The new study used a mathematical model to estimate the impact of top
modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease: smoking, depression, low
education, diabetes, too little exercise, and obesity and high blood
pressure in mid-life. Researchers calculated the impact globally as well
as just for the United States.
Worldwide, the biggest impact on Alzheimer’s cases is low education. Low
education can be a sign of many factors that harm minds, such as poor
nutrition. But it also is harmful by itself, because there is less
opportunity to develop “brain power” that can carry you into old age.
Smoking had the second biggest impact on cases worldwide, followed by too
little exercise.
However in the United States, inactivity is the leading problem because a
third of the population is sedentary. Depression made the next biggest
impact on Alzheimer’s cases in the U.S., followed by smoking and high
blood pressure. Untreated or inadequately treated depression has long been
known to raise the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Regular exercise has been proven to relieve mild depression just as well
as medication. (Please see Exercise and the Brain’s Performance,
http://www.performancepilates.com/health_tips/health-tips-0411.htm#04/10/11
).
Back to the leading causes of Alzheimer’s in the US: inactivity,
depression, smoking and high blood pressure in mid-life—all of these
treatable by gettin’ up and gettin’ moving.
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2011/07/19/alzheimers-study-health
09/04/11
Health Tip: Exhale with Exertion for a More Efficient Workout:
Breath makes your muscles work more efficiently-- something Joseph Pilates
figured out 75 years ago but was just published again by the University of
Montana in Missoula. In the study, those who exhaled on exertion rather
than inhaling or just breathing normally lifted significantly more weight
and sculpted their bodies in less time. Furthermore, contracting your
abdominal muscles as you exhale on exertion can also help you hoist extra
weight (or hold that extra long plank,) Dr. Sheng Li, co-author of the
study reported, not to mention safe guard your back and strengthen your
core. At Hilliard Studio Method™ we hold fast to the concept that a strong
core and spinal mobility equals a healthy, toned body. So exhale as you
lift those dumbbells or extend from that challenging squat for maximum
benefit to your muscles and physique. |
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*The
nutritional information contained herein is based upon information Hilliard
Studio Method reasonably believes to be accurate. We are not responsible
for any adverse effects related to following this information.
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