Blog
Protein Intake for Muscle Loss Prevention
Last week I wrote about a condition called sarcopenia, which is age-related muscle loss. Sarcopenia is associated with increased risk of falls, disability, poor quality of life, and premature death. It’s preventable by eating the right amount of protein, getting enough vitamin D and omega fatty acids, and resistance training 2-3 times weekly.
What is Sarcopenia and How to Prevent It
Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass specifically related to aging. It's normal to lose some muscle mass as we age, but most of this loss is preventable. People with sarcopenia often experience weakness and decreased stamina, which affects their ability to carry out physical activities. A reduction in activity leads to further muscle mass loss. Decreased muscle also affects the metabolism and is associated with increased body fat. Muscle loss starts around the age of 35, unless we do something about it.
The Mystery of Fat Loss
Not everyone has fat loss goals, and I promote loving your body regardless of size. And with obesity, people can reduce their health risks by simply exercising (I cite the study below). But many clients do have the goal to lose weight, and I wanted to dispel a few fat loss myths with some science.
National Exercise Guidelines
All recommend the same amount of exercise to increase our mood, bone density, lean muscle mass, cognitive function, and sleep quality, and to decrease risk of certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and blood pressure.
Exercise is like healing medicine for our bodies. Amazing stuff right?!
Slow Metabolism to Blame?
According to a new study from the peer-reviewed Science Journal our metabolism really doesn’t change from age 20 to 60, and even after 60, your metabolism declines only 0.7% per year. So what is the cause for our weight gain as we age? Well…it’s multi-factorial.
Why Pilates is Amazing - Part 5: Flow & Precision
To be precise in our Pilates practice we need to strengthen our skills of concentration, control, and centring. Without practicing with awareness and precision Pilates movements become almost meaningless. This is because without a level of control and precision, a practitioner may be moving with momentum and/or using their joints instead of their necessary muscles.
Why Pilates is Amazing - Part 4: Control and Centring
Our bodies are highly adaptable. There is a principle in kinesiology (the study of human movement) called the SAID principle which states that the human body adapts specifically to imposed demands. Specific stressors on the human system, whether biomechanical or neurological, will produce Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands (SAID). This means the more we practice controlling our muscles during Pilates the better we get at it.
Why Pilates is Amazing - Part 3: Breath and Concentration
In Pilates, we use lateral (side) breathing, also called intercostal breathing. When laterally breathing an effort is made to emphasize the expansion of the sides and back of the rib cage when we inhale. This promotes a consistent inward pull of the abdominal wall. On the exhale, our abdominal muscles assist our bodies which in turn helps to stabilize the trunk.
Why Pilates is Amazing - Part 2: Awareness & Balance
Each person has a unique set of imbalances, and these are almost always related to their previous injuries and/or dysfunctional movement patterns. A properly designed Pilates exercise program brings balance in our muscles safely and gradually as using the Pilates equipment helps support the body in the correct alignment. Because the loads of resistance are light to medium in Pilates compared to other modes of strength training the risk of injury is quite low. So the exercises in Pilates can help bring balance, coordination, healthy joint mobility, muscular strength and endurance, and core stability. I truly believe Pilates is the BEST way to train the body.
Why Is Pilates So Amazing: Part 1 Intro
I have trainings in both Classical and Contemporary methods, which is why at Pilates Life Studio you are often presented a melding of both amazing methods.
Mobility decreases with age – but it doesn’t have to
Two major areas that don’t move as easily as we get older are our trunk (aka upper back & core) and our shoulders.
But the good news is, just as you can continue to build and strengthen your muscles as you get older, practicing flexibility and mobility exercises can keep you feeling limber.
Pilates Principles Overview
And his Contrology method had a philosophy that he believed would bring whole body health, which gave context to the exercises he designed. Joseph intended his method to be a mental and physical discipline, a work ethic, and an attitude toward one’s self that would eventually become a habit and a lifestyle.
The Importance of Exercise Recovery: Step 6 Sleep Hygiene
Sleep Hygiene is a set of routines that help us to have a deeper and longer sleep. Optimizing sleep schedules, pre-bed routine, and daily routines are all part of creating habits to develop quality sleep for ourselves.
The Importance of Exercise Recovery: Step 5 Nutrition
In this post I explain how what we eat (whole foods) and what we don't eat (processed foods) are equally important.
What we eat is so critical for our exercise recovery. I could write a book on it...well many people have. I am going to stick to the basics for this post.
The Importance of Exercise Recovery: Step 4 De-Stress Techniques
A quick and easy way is when you feel yourself getting stressed and life just seems to be getting too busy and chaotic, take out 3-5min and breathe. I have attached a short breathing video you can use to calm down your nervous system.
The Importance of Recovery: Step 2 Stretching and Step 3 SMR
My fave way to stretch? Dynamicially: meaning a slowly moving the joint in large ranges of motion for a certain period of time. Check out the video below for a 10 minute lower body dynamic stretch.
The Importance of Exercise Recovery: Step 1 Strength Training
The first practice I list is strength training, which at first may seem like a funny activity to put in a list about ways to recover from exercise. And while strength training doesn’t directly help our bodies recover from bouts of exercise, what it does do is far more important. Strength training lays the foundation to building a highly functional body. In the end this helps your body perform optimally so that it eases the demands on the body when you exercise, so less recovery is needed.
The Importance of Exercise Recovery
Exercise recovery is more than just resting after a workout. In this article I go over a few important practices that can help increase your body’s ability to recover from exercise.
Within the body there is a constant play of stability and mobility. Certain areas in our body function best when strong and stable and other parts of the body function best with more range of motion.
Somatotypes
Knowing our somatotype can be very helpful when trying to get healthy.
What’s the best diet? Paleo? Vegan? Keto? Atkins? Zone? The list goes on...
I often answer “the best diet is the one that you can maintain long term.” This is such a complex discussion. And really there is no right answer as to whether there is one diet that works for all people. Well….maybe one right answer: whole foods. Selecting most of the food you eat from whole sources, meaning minimally processed, feeds your body the nutrients it needs and keeps it healthy.