Superhero facts III: sitting, the new enemy...

I've spoken previously about the muscular effects of sitting for long periods, but if you need a refresh - here it is...

"...okay, I'm getting a hint here - Reed Richards means this is going to talk about stretching somewhere, doesn't it??"

...very good assumption, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here...firstly, what does sitting do to our health?? I'll break it down for you:

...within 15-20 minutes of sitting down: the electrical activity in your muscles drops, and your ability to burn energy drops to about one calorie per minute (think about how little that is in food terms) - which is roughly a quarter of what you would burn if you were just walking...

...after five days of sitting for 6 hours a day: physiological changes will start...your body will drop it's glucose uptake by about 40%, which will eventually cause insulin resistance and may lead to type II diabetes. You can also expect the an increase in blood triglycerides (fat molecules) and LDL (bad) cholesterol...

"...yeah Caolan, for starters - no-one really sits like that - they really sit like this..."

...okay, that's scary - that barely looks human...

...after two weeks of sitting for 6 hours a day: muscle atrophy begins and your maximal oxygen uptake decreases (and you wondered why climbing the stairs was harder)...even if you're exercising every day, the deterioration will still occur as soon as you sit down...

...after a year of sitting for 6 hours a day: you should have experienced weight gain and an increase in your cholesterol levels...if you're female, expect to loss 1% of bone density for every year you're sitting down...

...after 10+ years of sitting for 6 hours a day: by now you will have lost 7 years of quality life...your risk of dying from heart disease is increased by 64%, and your risk of suffering from prostate or breast cancer is increased by 30%...

"...wow, thanks for the doom and gloom..."

...okay, that sounds bad...but there are ways to counteract it...

...the most simple way to counteract the effects of sitting is to make sure that you spend at least an hour of your day standing...that's a solid hour - not 20min and 20min there...this may mean you have to stand in front of your TV and watch your favourite show, or simply get out and walk during your lunch break...

...the second factor is that you need at least thirty minutes of solid activity (notice I said activity, not exercise - this is actually separate from the time you exercise in a day) every day. This might mean walking to work, or at least, setting yourself a longer distance to walk from work to your transport...even ride a bicycle to and from work every day (well, except when the heavens open and make conditions dangerous).

...the final piece of the puzzle for me, is a series of exercises invented by a fellow chiropractor, Eric Goodman, called "The Founder":

...and as always, if you wish to know more: the.chiro@mail.com

Putting your money where your health and minutes are...

Now, before any of my patients start to freak out and think that I have traded careers to become a financial advisor - don't stress...

...what I am going to do today though, is challenge the way you spend money on items that affect your health...

...now, I have friends out there who will spend themselves an extra $2,000 - $10,000 dollars to get themselves the sports or special edition version of one of these:

...but then won't spend an extra $600 - $1,200 to get the top of the line version of one of these:

...now, I understand that the bed doesn't carry the social status that may come with the car but I'm going to make this really simple - which one do you spend more time in??

...realistically, most of you will spend less than 90 minutes a day in the first one, but will spend somewhere between six to ten hours in the second one. Which, to me in numeric terms, means the bed will have four to seven times the amount of effect on your body than the car will (unless you're being struck by one, obviously).

...but more than the bed - how many people do you know who will refuse to spend more than $200 - $300 on one of these??

...now, the humble office chair is inhabited by most people anywhere between six to sixteen hours a day...which, working on the same calculations above, means it should have four to eleven times the amount of effect on your body as the car does...

...and finally, who refuses to spend more than a couple of hundred dollars on a pair of these??

...we're in a pair of shoes anywhere between twelve to eighteen hours - that's a cumulative effect that is eight to twelve times that of the car...

...now, I'm not telling you where to spend your money...but the next time you're about to buy something, consider how often you will wear / use it, and how much effect that may have on your health...and then hopefully, spend accordingly...

...as always if you need to know more: the.chiro@mail.com

Why is wheat suddenly a problem??

You hear about it a lot, that the new key to good health is to eliminate gluten...but why??

Well, this article from the BaoBag website explains how our wheat has been altered by cross breeding...

As always, if you need to know more - email me at the.chiro@mail.com

Anxiety and depression...

According to the statistics from BeyondBlue, approximately 3 million Australians are living with either anxiety or depression. That's a staggering statistic - that's roughly one in seven people living in this country are suffering from anxiety or depression, or both.

I saw an interview on The Project featuring Jeff Kennett - and offered some fantastic insights into the organisation BeyondBlue, and into anxiety and depression themselves. He spoke about the importance of getting help, and speaking to someone if you were concerned about the condition of yourself or of someone close - then he spoke of the importance of teaching people suffering with depression and anxiety how to look after themselves properly. He specifically spoke about teaching sufferers to eat and exercise properly...and I guess that's where this blog springs from...

Rather than re-hash definitions - if you want to know more about anxiety or depression, click on the links and read BeyondBlue's comprehensive site. There are also self-tests on the site to discern if you should seek further help...

I'll state this now to avoid confusion - nothing I write about here is a cure for anxiety or depression, what I'm covering here are everyday things you can to help manage the symptoms...

Anxiety

Foods to eat:

• foods that contain tryptophan - which is a precursor to serotonin, the "feel-good" hormone in our bodies: these include turkey, milk, bananas, oats, seaweed, nuts (especially almonds) and sesame seeds
• foods that contain thiamin (Vitamin B1) - which is a mood stabiliser: these include beef, legumes, pork, rice and nuts
• protein - which helps your body produce dopamine and norepinephrine ("anti"adrenalin)
• foods high in Omega-3 oils - Omega-3 oils are anti-inflammatory, improve overall mood and increase a person's ability to overcome substance abuse
• stay properly hydrated - your mood can be dramatically altered even by mild dehydration

Foods to avoid:

• sugar
• refined carbohydrates (white sugar, white flour, etc)
• processed foods
• sugar
• caffeine
• fried and fatty foods
• sugar
• alcohol
• food colourings and flavourings
• sugar
• gluten
• sugar (am I getting the point across, or should I throw this in a couple more times??)

Exercise:

Exercise is beneficial for anxiety in many ways:

• the release of "feel-good" hormones such as serotonin and dopamine
• aids the body in eliminating immune depressing chemicals in our systems
• increasing body temperature, which tends to have a calming effect on our nervous system
• distraction - either through concentration on the activity itself, or via social interaction

As far as what exercise is the best for anxiety, my honest answer is to choose something that you enjoy and feel comfortable with. Placing extra stress on your body by doing an activity you do not enjoy, or that is not suitable for you, is really not the aim. The more regular the exercise program, the more consistent the reduction in anxiety levels.

Depression

Foods to eat:

• nutrient rich foods - a depressed body is not a completely psychological or emotional happening, your immune system can become affected
• foods high in anti-oxidants - free radicals in the body can contribute to depression or premature aging: these include apricots, broccoli, carrots, peaches, pumpkin, spinach, sweet potato, blueberries, grapefruit, kiwi, oranges, strawberries, and tomatoes
• foods rich in protein - for the same reasons mentioned in the anxiety section
• foods rich in B vitamins - especially B1, B2, B3, B6 and B9: these include brown rice, oats, cabbage and eggs
• food high in Omega-3 - again, for the same reasons as above
• food rich in iron and vitamin C - there is no theory behind this yet, but it seems that most people who suffer from depression are iron deficient...vitamin C helps the body to absorb iron

Foods to avoid:

• caffeine
• sugar (yep, again)
• high fat foods - especially deep fried foods
• sugar (did you really think I was going to miss that opportunity??)
• alcohol
• while not a food, it has been shown that smoking and certain prescription medications (antibiotics, barbiturates, amphetamines, pain killers, ulcer drugs, anticonvulsants, beta-blockers, anti-Parkinson's drugs, birth control pills, high blood pressure drugs, heart medications and psychotropic drugs - just to name a few) have negative effects on depression

Exercise:

In the case of depression, more moderate exercise (think aerobic exercise like cycling, swimming or running instead of lifting weights) has been shown to benefit. There are studies that shown that exercise is just as successful in controlling depression as all the anti-depressant medications on the market today - I'd venture to say that it's probably cheaper too. It is also recommended that a depression sufferer should exercise outdoors, as vitamin D (synthesised in the body via sunlight) has also been shown to have positive effects on depression.

As always, if you want to know more: the.chiro@mail.com

Taking a side tangent...

I know this is normally my blog space for all matters to do with health and well-being, but I look after the "other" team in this ABC report, so I thought I might share...

...click here to see a great little piece on multi-culturalism and womens AFL...

Superhero fact - part deux...how important is protein??

(yeah, part deux - just because I want to keep the numbering consistent in this)

...it's probably the most common food group mentioned with exercise - it's protein...but why is it so important??

...well, protein is the essential building block of our entire bodies - our muscles (skeletal and cardiac), the highly important transportation of nutrients between our intracellular and extracellular spaces, right down to haemoglobin, the chemical complex that carries oxygen in our bloodstream...every workout you have causes microscopic tears in our muscle fibres, and protein is the critical factor is the repair and improvement of our muscle tissue...

...so, of course - this means every sports store and nutritional supplement supplier has protein supplements by the bucketload (and I mean, BUCKETLOAD)...

...the question remains, how much protein do you actually need??

...let's put this in simple terms - the maximum amount of protein that your body can absorb in a day is 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. This means for the 83kg of me, the absolute maximum amount of protein I can absorb in a day is 182.6 grams...

...however, the daily recommended intake for the average person in the street is only 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day (66.4 grams for me)...

...so, how do you get this?? Here's a good list of how much protein is actually in the food we consume...

...as always, if you need to know more - email me at the.chiro@mail.com, or ask these guys:

Flash fact #1 - Fuelling the body for long distance running...

"...umm, Caolan - flash??"

...no, not that sort of flash...I was thinking more this sort of Flash:

...hmm, in future these may be called superhero facts...anyway...

...seeing as we're coming up to a lot of running events on the calendar (the City to Surf, the Mother's Day Run, the Colour Run) it's important to know how to fuel your body for these events. The simple breakdown is this: does your running event go for 90 minutes or longer??

...if it doesn't, then your carbohydrate intake really isn't that relevant as we know that our body generally has stores of glycogen (our body's fuel source) for us to exercise or run for around 90 minutes...

...now, if your event is longer than 90 minutes, the next question is: how big are you?? If you're a reasonably sized guy, you will require an intake of around 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour of running. If you happen to be female, or of a very slight frame, an intake of around 30 grams per hour is more suitable for you...

...if you need a good guide of how much carbohydrate is contained in certain foods, a good guide can be found here. As always, if you need to know more: the.chiro@mail.com

Weight training - breaking through the gym fiction...

There's a lot of gym room experts when it comes to weight training, but it all really comes down to one thing: what do you want to achieve from your training?? Let's be honest, we don't all want to look like this:

...and even if you do - do you know how to go about training the correct way to achieve this??

Let's start with the three most common goals of weight training:

1. training to increase muscular strength

(notice Damon Kelly looks nothing like the chiseled abdomen displayed above??)

Training to increase muscular strength is usually undertaken about a building phase, which I will discuss next - and it's usually a pretty simple theory: lift a big weight a few times. In more complex terms, lift 85-90% of your one rep max (the maximum amount of weight you can lift one, often referred to as ORM) around 4-6 times in a set. The top athletes in this field may do anywhere from two to four sets depending on where they are in their training schedule. This time of training won't give you a chiseled frame, or make your muscles bigger, but you will get strong...and usually pretty quickly...

2. training to build muscle

This is a phase of weight training that works on increasing the size of the muscle fibre - you start with a weight that is 50-65% of your ORM and your repetitions (or reps for short) usually vary between 8-12 and performed over three sets. The muscle derived from this type of training usually isn't very functional, and requires further training if you want to specialise towards a certain goal.

3. training to tone

This phase of training usually works on stripping away excess muscle fibre and adipose tissue (otherwise known as fat), leaving a body with a large amount of lean muscle mass. The training principle is relatively simple - grab a weight around 40-50% of your ORM and lift it between 15-30 times for three sets. Body weight exercises (push-ups, chin-ups, etc) tend to be utilised a lot here.

(female voice) "...but won't I get all bulky if I lift weights??"

...I actually get told this, or asked this, a lot...the honest truth is that most women who weight train will initially start training to build muscle, and then will quickly switch to a toning regime with the occasional building session over time. If you stick to the principles above, and have a good trainer, there's no reason you should wind up looking like this:

 

...as always, if you want to know more: the.chiro@mail.com

Exercise: where to begin...the little stuff...

Okay, hopefully by now you've read my last blog about the benefits of exercise - now it's time to talk about where to begin...

Let's talk the little details...firstly, you need to pick an exercise that you enjoy or have an interest in...I can tell you know, if you don't enjoy what you're doing, you won't continue with it...this might mean a bit of trial and error at the beginning - and if you haven't found something you enjoy, then you haven't looked hard enough yet...

Secondly, you need someone to train with...

...having someone else there for your training sessions achieves a lot of things: it gives you someone to motivate and encourage you and provides you with someone to compete against...it also gives you a distraction when the going gets tough.

Thirdly, don't be afraid to start small...

...exercise is like anything - you need to build into it. You're not going to run a marathon next week, so keep your starting point in proportion to your current fitness level - this might mean just starting with a daily walk to build up your base level of fitness. 

Starting small is important for your mental and physical state - you train too hard and an injury may occur (which will set back your fitness goals or eradicate them all together), or set your goals too high and you may be disappointed by your early efforts and lose motivation...

And finally, having your first few training sessions with a trainer is a good start...I highly recommend using someone you have heard about through word of mouth, and that you consult with the trainer about your goals before you begin...

A trainer will make sure of a number of things: they will ensure that your exercise technique is correct and that you are doing things in a manner that will give you the most effective workout while preventing injury, and they should measure your fitness at different time intervals along the way to provide you with a picture of your developing fitness levels...

Your trainer should also be happy to work with and contact your health practitioners...this will provide the trainer with more relevant information on the physical state of your body (just remember, very few trainers have medical training or background and the added information from your practitioner should aid them in further catering your exercise program to your personal needs - be wary of a trainer who gives all their clients the same exercise program) and provide your practitioner with feedback on your progression...

Join me next blog for an explanation on how your training program should be tailored towards your goals, and I will attempt to dispel a few common exercise myths. As always, if you want to know more, you can email me at the.chiro@mail.com...

Why the "E" is so important...

"...oh, great - another one of those cryptic headings..."

...yeah, sorry - figured I'd have a bit of fun with this one...

"...so what "E" are you talking about??"

...haha, how about you guess...

"...ecstasy??"

...dude, seriously - this is me talking here...

"...oops, sorry...how about eggs??"

...hmm, nope...

"...existentialism??"

...did you buy a dictionary for that one?? Seriously...

"...can I buy a vowel?? Phone a friend, Eddie??"

...I'll make it easy for you - I'm talking about exercise...

"...ahh, you're building to something here, aren't you??"

...shh, I am - but let's stick to today's topic: why is exercise so important??

"...it has to be - you bang on about it enough..."

...okay, that's enough from you...but yes, we're told regularly and repeatedly that exercise is important and it is something that we should all be doing - but why??

...let's start with the physical effects:

...obviously, above is a demonstration of the aesthetic aspect of exercise - but along with the more pleasing appearance, regular (the schematics of exercise will be discussed next blog) exercise will help in the maintenance of body weight - the increase in exercise results in an increase in the amount of kilojoules (or calories if you're working in the American system) burnt in a day. 

Build up your exercise over a reasonable period, and your base metabolic rate (the amount of energy your body burns in a day) will increase - making it easier to control your weight over time...the increase in physical strength and aerobic endurance also make completing daily activities less of a chore, leaving you with more energy to undertake other hobbies...

Regular weight-bearing exercise (meaning, not in water) also stimulates the body to increase bone formation, resulting in an increase in bone density - which is extremely important for the elder section of the community...

...next come the physiological benefits:

...heart disease and high blood pressure are two of the biggest causes of morbidity and mortality in society, not to mention, two of the biggest dollar takers in money spent of the health of our society. Exercise has some fantastic effects on both - regular exercise increases the muscularity of our blood vessels (it's not just skeletal muscle that benefits from exercise), resulting in a decrease in our resting blood pressure. A regular exercise routine will also result in stimulating the body's creation of high density lipoproteins (often referred to as HDL), or "good cholesterol"...

...the loss of excess adipose (or fat) tissue that results from exercise also has been shown to aid in the prevention of type II diabetes, also referred to as "mature onset" diabetes...starting to see how much exercise could be benefiting the health of society??

...which bring me to the next aspect of physiological benefits:

(...apologies to my nephew, but I love that pic...hey, I could have used this one instead...)

...okay, now that I have thoroughly sidetracked myself - how many of us have problems with sleeping?? What if I told you that regular exercise reduces the amount of cortisol (our stress hormone, and one that also wakes us up first thing in the morning) and increases the amount of serotonin (the magical hormone that keeps us asleep at night) produced by the body?? I think a better night's sleep should be motivation enough for some of you to start exercising...

...okay, think all the benefits of exercise are physical or physiological?? We're only just starting - what about the effects of exercise on this guy??

...exercise has some amazing effects on the function of the brain, to the extent that exercise is now the most common suggested intervention for people with depression and anxiety...regular exercise increases the flood of blood and oxygen to the brain, which increases the body's capacity to produce nerve cells and promotes neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to adapt). The release of dopamine, glutamate, norepinephrine and serotonin also markedly improve the body's ability to learn new things, and the endorphin release (or "runner's high") post-exercise is amazing for improving one's general mood and reducing depression...

...and ever considered this?? Exercise has incredible benefits for sexual health (notice I didn't include a pic for this one?? You don't want to know what Google came up with when I typed that one in) - the increase in peripheral blood flow has been shown to enhance the arousal of women and decrease erectile dysfunction in men...

...so now you know why exercise is so important - stay tuned for next time when I run through the basics of starting an exercise program. As always, if you want to know more - email me at the.chiro@mail.com, find me on Twitter: @caolanthechiro and on Facebook here.