Dedham Health

Baby Bumps and BODYPUMP?

By Sarah Caracciolo, B.S.
DHAC Assistant Fitness Director

If the title of my blog didn’t give it away, let me officially announce that I am pregnant!  I am just starting my second trimester and feel amazing! I credit this to exercise. Of course there are some “pleasantries” of pregnancy that cannot be helped with exercise (nausea being the biggest culprit) but for the most part it has been my saving grace!

Let’s state the obvious first….always consult with your obstetrician before starting an exercise program. If you have never exercised before, you will most likely have more limitations during your first trimester. For those who are consistent exercisers, you will most likely be able to continue on your program, but consulting with your physician first is always recommended.

In this particular blog I want to discuss weight lifting during pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends using lighter than normal weights and increasing your repetitions. Using heavier weights can overload your joints which are already being loosened by pregnancy hormones preparing you for labor. 

While weight lifting is generally considered safe and highly advised during pregnancy, it can be difficult to fit on certain pieces of equipment especially later on in your second and third trimesters. A great option is a group fitness class that offers plenty of variations for you. I personally don’t know what I’d do without my BODYPUMP classes. I teach twice a week and have been craving a third! The class is designed to be a full body workout that uses barbells and plates. It focuses on high repetitions and low to moderate weight. There are days when I am utterly exhausted from this pregnancy but I know that after I teach my BODYPUMP classes I will have MORE energy and feel a lot stronger. Of course listening to your own body is the best advice I could give. Sometimes I have just needed a break and lightened my weights on specific muscle groups or simply used bodyweight only. As you approach your second trimester, lying on your back should be avoided as you could inhibit blood flow. Simply creating an incline with your step is a great variation.

In general, exercising during your pregnancy on a regular basis will help to prevent and treat gestational diabetes, lift those low energy levels, and improve your posture and mood (many will benefit from this!). The most important benefit I am working towards is that exercise will train your body to better cope with the demand, pain, and endurance of labor!

 

Too Sick To Exercise?

By Julie Messinger, B.S.
DHAC Exercise Physiologist

Feeling under the weather? Did you wake up feeling fatigued, have a runny nose, or aches and pains all over? Are you exhausted because you were up all night coughing? Sounds like you caught the common cold. No, it’s not fun at all, but everyone has to deal with fighting off a cold at some point every year. Many people will take a few days off from exercise if they are not feeling well, while others will fight through it and still get in their daily work out despite how bad they feel. So what’s the right thing to do?

Generally speaking, exercising on a regular basis will help decrease symptoms of the common cold. Exercise will also cut in half the number of days you suffer with your cold symptoms. Sometimes it is ok to still work out if you’re feeling sick, but other times it’s better for your own health and other’s health to just stay home and rest. How do you know if you are too sick to exercise?

First things first, always check with your physician to ensure that your symptoms are not something more severe than the common cold. If your Doc gives you the green light to exercise, and you are not contagious, there are two rules of thumb to follow. 

1. If your symptoms are above the neck and mild, (runny nose, cough, headache,) it’s ok to continue to exercise. We recommend staying in the light to moderate range. Strength training, yoga and Pilates are your best choices. It is wise to stay away from cardiovascular exercise because it will cause your body to overexert itself. Remember, don’t over-do it. It will only lead to feeling lousy for a longer period of time and we don’t want that cold to wear out its welcome!

2. If your symptoms are below the neck (muscle soreness, stuffed chest, sweats, and chills) it is not safe to exercise. If you are experiencing these symptoms, you should avoid exercising all together. Stay home and rest. Not only do you want to prevent yourself from becoming even more ill, but you run the risk of spreading the nasty cold to others. Everyone knows the saying “sweating the fever out” but the truth is, if you’re too sick to work out - stay home!  It’s not good to “sweat it out” because you run the risk of landing yourself back in bed for another few days or even worse…the hospital. 

Finally, when you are well enough to return, come back slow and easy. If you try to return too fast or intense, you could end up back at square one. Stay home, drink lots of fluids, and get plenty of sleep. If you follow these steps, you will be back to the gym in no time! 

 

The fact is

By Diana Breault
DHAC Weight Loss Motivator 

To your right, you can see a Nutrition Facts label from a bag of potato chips. What is the first thing you notice about this label? Do you ever read these labels while shopping at the grocery store or as you dig your spoon into your soggy oats?

Food manufacturers put these labels on your food for a reason: To inform you about what you are really eating before you actually do. 

So maybe you’re thinking, why should I waste my time reading a nutrition facts label if I’m not on a diet and I have no food allergies? There’s more to it than just listing nutrients and showing you a bunch of numbers. There are a few things you should pay attention to.

Serving size. All the facts on that label are based according to the product’s serving size. All the information you read after this solely based on this specific amount of food.

Calories. The amount of energy you will receive when you consume this product. The calories from fat will help you determine if this food is high in fat.

List of nutrients. This includes what nutrients are found in this food. Total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium are nutrients that you should try to limit in a healthful diet.

% Daily Value. Keep in mind that this value is based on a 2,000 calorie diet. You can use this percentage to determine whether a food is high or low in a specific nutrient (FYI: foods that contain less than 5% DV are considered to be low in the nutrient while foods that contain more than 20% DV are considered to be high in that nutrient.

Ingredients. Important to read for anybody who has food allergies or is interested if that whole grain bread is truly made from whole grain wheat.
What are the labels in your cabinet telling you?

 

Let's Roll!

By Julie Messinger
DHAC Exercise Physiologist

Have you noticed those long round pieces of foam in the fitness center? Wondered what they are?They are called foam rollers and they could become your new best friend! 

Now that you know what they are, what do foam rollers do? 

Think of a foam roller as a “poor man’s” massage therapist. It helps you work the soft tissue of the muscle. With this cylindrical piece of hard foam, you can apply pressure on sensitive muscle areas.These areas are called trigger points. You may know them as simple muscle knots. These knots are areas of increased muscle density. 

The foam roller is often used along long muscle groups such as the calves, quadriceps and abductor muscles. It can also be used on smaller muscle groups such as the hip rotators and the gluteus medius. 

Using these rollers to perform a technique called myofascial release, you can relieve muscle and joint pains, including IT band syndrome and shin splints. You can also improve your flexibility and range of motion. 

When should you roll? Either before and after working out. If you roll pre-work out, it will allow for a better work out because it decreases muscle density allowing for a better warm-up. If you choose to roll after working out, it will aid in recovery. 

These simple pieces of foam are not only beneficial to your body, but also to your wallet. They area lot less expensive to use than getting a deep tissue massage. 

So, the next time you are in the fitness center, and you look at those black pieces of foam, pick one up and give it a try! Unsure how? Ask one of our trained exercise physiologists. You might love the results!

 

What's Going On?

By DHAC Staff

Many people have been inquiring about the stairway by the front desk. These stairs lead to an new area we are building for an interactive laser tag arena for birthday parties. Our innovative laser tag technology creates a Disney-like experience, uniquely involving game-play and a light and sound show! 

The area right next to the stairway is where we are expanding and updating our theatre to attract larger venues.  

We have also improved our family viewing area by allowing families to be close to the action. This creates a more customer friendly lobby!

We know you will enjoy these improvements, and we appreciate your patience as we work to improve your DHAC experience!

It's Not Too Late. Really!

By Guy Caracciolo
DHAC Director of Exercise Physiology 

It is January 2012. Maybe you made some resolutions and goals for the coming year. By now, it may feel a bit trite. How many times have you made the same resolution? You might be starting to feel like you are going to fail again. 

 I know it can be hard to lose weight, exercise, and make healthier eating choices, but you can do it! Say it to yourself, "I can do it!" Of course, pure determination isn’t enough. How about a  few tips on moving from resolution to a long lasting lifestyle change?

The road to success starts with proper planning. That includes understanding what your potential pitfalls have been in the past. We really do learn more from our mistakes than from our success sometimes.

Second, figure out your personal motivators. Why do you want to achieve this change? What does success mean to you?  How about failure?  What are the ups and downs of exchanging negative behavior for healthy behavior?

Finally, create small realistic goals that are achievable.  Small successes lead to long term behavior change. This stage has you preparing and thinking "I can do this." and strategising how to cope with potential pitfalls and hazards along the way.

Are your goals exercise related? Then here a few more tips:

Be consistent! Be realistic! Figure out many days can you devote to 30 to 60 minutes of exercise. If you have not exercised in months or even years, it is very important to start with a small dose of exercise two or three times per week. Your body and mind need time to adapt the stressor of exercise. 

Always finish your exercise session thinking and feeling that you could have done more.  Don't create a feeling of discomfort while exercising when first starting out. 

Use the talk test when performing cardiovascular activities such as walking, bicycling, etc. You should be able to hold on to multi word conversation without gasping in between words. 

If the activity is walking or jogging increase time and or distance by no more than 10% per week. If it is weight supported cardio such as cycling, elliptical, rowing or swimming increase time and or distance by no more than 20% per week.  

Do not increase your intensity for the first month unless you are under the supervision of an exercise physiologist.  

Strength training should be performed two times per week, introducing a few major compound muscle group movements per week over the course of the next month. Perform one to two sets per exercise of ten to fifteen repetitions at a light to moderate weight. 

Lastly perform a few simple flexibility movements to help you recover from your exercise and to develop a greater range of motion over time.  

Make the commitment to slowly build your foundation for changing to healthier behaviors such as exercising consistently for the whole year! When one healthy behavior begins, other healthy behavior changes may start to follow.  

Our behaviors are ruled by our mind and our mind rules our body. To change our body we have to change our mind. And as  Ghandi said “We must become the change we want to see.” 

 

 

Running Craze

By Brittanie McDonald
DHAC Exercise Staff

My love for running began when I was about 12 years old and in middle school. Every day in gym class, we would start by running a mile and half loop around the fields to get warmed up. I continued running through middle and high school. When I started college at Northeastern, I walked onto the cross country and track teams where I competed against division 1 athletes for the next 3 years. To this day, you will still see me sweating it out on the treadmill, working up my mileage. 

For some, running comes naturally and is as easy as putting one foot in front of the other. But for most, it’s not nearly as simple, or enjoyable for that matter. We had a saying on the team at Northeastern, “Our team’s sport, is your team’s punishment!” We knew that the majority of people, including athletes, loathe running.

But everyone – even you - can run. You will find that you might enjoy it just as much as that bike or the elliptical! 

Most hate it because they find it painful, boring, or they simply don’t have the endurance. The key to becoming a successful runner, competitive or not, is to start slow. Don’t try to start with a sprint! Want a few more quick tips for increased endurance and stamina? Here we go!

• Put some music with a great beat on your iPod
• Start with a 5-10 minute WALKING warm-up
• Increase the speed until you find a point where you can no longer walk, but need to JOG. Maintain that pace for anywhere from 1 minute to 3 minutes.
• Drop the speed back to your walking pace and recover. (Ideally, recovery time should be shorter than jogging time but take as much time as needed)
• Repeat this 3-5 more times
• Cool down for 5 minutes
• Try this 2-3x/week and work on gradually increasing the length of your jogging time. 

By using these tips on the treatmill or track, you see just how much you can do when you pace yourself! Also, don’t over do it. While running is a great cardiovascular workout, it’s also high impact and tough on the joints. Mix up your cardio with some lower impact exercise (elliptical, bike, water aerobics), incorporate strength training into your workouts for joint support and most importantly, STRETCH after your workout! 

Do you love or hate running? Have any other tips for getting started?

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

By Hilary Mccarthy
DHAC Junior Tennis Academy Director 

The holidays are over, the decorations are put away. As we begin a New Year many of us look back on the past 12 months. What happened? Did we accomplish those things we wanted to achieve? Lose weight? Change jobs? Eat healthier? 

And what about our children? Did they achieve their goals?

These days, pressure on kids can be very high. The are expected to get into a top college, playing sports at a varsity or higher level. But what being happy and feeling successful? 

Did you know a large percentage of children stop playing organized sports in the US after the age of 13? The reason? They aren’t the top player in that sport, they aren’t the star. So they quit. The pressure in children’s athletics is to be the best. 

What ever happened to playing a sport for it’s own sake? What happened to fun?

Something I love about the sport of tennis is the variety of ages and abilities of people who play simply for enjoyment. I watch players from 5 or 6 years old to eighty and up. I love to see families on the court playing and enjoying time together. I have great memories of playing with my parents and siblings, and it’s something we still do, even if does get a little competitive!

We need to show our kids that they may not ever win Wimbledon or an NBA title, and that’s OK! 

The best gift we can give our kids is a lifetime enjoyment of sports, activity and exercise. Once kids have mastered the basics of tennis, it is something they will have for their lifetimes. What a great gift to give your child.

 

 

Are They Over Yet?

By Michael Fagone
DHAC Member

The “they” I am referring to are the holidays. I don’t know about you, but I enter January with a sense of shock and awe. You know the holidays happened but you don’t quite know how you got through or how everything got done. I cannot wait for life to quiet down and get back to my routine. 

Someone asked me how I survive the holidays with both my diet and exercise in check. For me, those two things provided the stability and energy I needed to get through. 

I once read  that you should treat your workouts like doctor appointments. I do just that. I consider them immovable.

As many of you probably know it becomes too easy for workouts to get bumped and then altogether forgotten. I don’t allow myself to do that. I made the decision to make getting healthy my number one priority and I am unwavering in that mindset.  Staying consistent through challenging times is hard, but if you can manage, it makes long-term compliance so much easier. 

But what about the diet portion? My diet in general is very simple. I eat the same things all the time. I call it a wash-rinse-repeat approach to eating. However, the holidays are challenging food-wise for anyone, including me. I work with children and the parents generously bring us lots of treats. Since I am the boss, they hand them to me. I hand them right off to my staff and that’s that. I would love to dive right into those cookies but I also know how hard I have worked and where I came from, so out of sight, out of mind. 

Many assume the holidays are the worst time to start a diet. I told them I actually think it is the best time because if you can learn to manage your food through the holidays, you can do it anytime. 

In the last 22 months, there have been exactly FOUR times that I had a dessert/sweet. That’s it. I had planned desserts on Thanksgiving and Christmas these last two years (with my nutritionist’s ok). The first three times were either a healthier dessert option or one ridiculously small square of crumb cake. But what about that fourth time? 

I am at the point in my weight loss that even my nutritionist has told me that an occasional treat isn’t going to hurt me. But I haven’t been ready. I was at a friend’s holiday party and there were these delicious looking cupcakes. I decided to have one. My diet is very clean and I am very consistent with my exercise. I logically knew one cupcake wouldn’t ruin things. Except that I couldn’t stop thinking about that cupcake. I was thinking about it a little too much. So I knew that was NOT the night to lower my guard and I didn’t have it. I didn’t want to open Pandora’s Box. 

So when this Christmas approached, I made the decision that I would have dessert on Christmas as I did the previous year. Except this year, I was going to have the dessert that I wanted and not the one that was the better choice. My nutritionist once talked to me about choosing holiday treats wisely. She said to choose those items that make the holiday special instead of eating sweets that you can have any time of the year. 

And that’s what I did. I actually ended up trying two different desserts. But instead of the brownies or cookies that I could have anytime, I chose desserts that I don’t ever have access to on any kind of regular basis. It was a HUGE step for me. I wondered  if I had made the right choice. 

The next night I worked out with Jason and ran out of breath during an exercise.  I immediately told him it was because of the desserts. He just gave me the look he usually does when he knows I am being dramatic. But it still took me a couple of days to be okay with the decision I had made. 

And that was the key point. I made a decision ahead of time to have dessert. It was a planned treat instead of an impulse. I looked back on where I had come from. Christmases in the past would have started with me downing a number of Reese’s Christmas trees before breakfast, then maybe donuts for breakfast, followed by all the dinner fixings and desserts I wanted and then ending the night with a bunch of the sweets and candy that parents had given to me. And now I can say that I had controlled and planned treats on four days out of the last 700+ days. I have come a LONG way.

I am very hard on myself. Some would say too hard. I am still a work in progress. Because I have been successfult many think I have this in the bag. But I still struggle with mustering the energy and finding the time to get those workouts in and I still stress over every calorie. 

If you can get through the holidays with both your diet and exercise balanced and in check, the rest of the times are so much easier. Being consistent with my workouts and being mindful of how I was eating were the key ways that I survived the holidays with this whole diet and exercise thing. 

Now how many days until next Christmas? 


 

The Spot Training Myth

By Sarah Caracciolo
Assistant Fitness Director 

I hear it almost everyday. “I want to lose fat in my ___________________ area.” You can fill in the blank with almost any area on the human body and it has been asked! The truth is, spot reduction is one of the most common myths in exercise physiology. Society and infomercials capitalize on this myth and sell gullible people on the “fact” that their product will help you lose inches from your hips, butt, and thighs. WRONG! The only thing you lost was money.

A large part of the misunderstanding is that when we focus on training certain areas, the muscles in that region undergo hypertrophy, or tissue growth. This causes the muscle to enlarge and take a more firming shape, giving the brief illusion that the muscle has replaced the fat. This actually did not happen. Muscle cannot turn into fat and fat cannot turn into muscle. The goal is to build one, and lose the other. 

How do we effectively do this? Fat is lost from the ENTIRE body as a result of consistent exercise and diet. 30-60 minutes of cardiovascular exercise 3 times a week followed by 2-3 days of resistance training.  Your diet? Well, in theory it should be everyday of the week, but indulging in a guilty pleasure once or twice a week won’t break the bank as long as you remember moderation! 

So, the next time you are tempted to reach for your credit card after watching that enticing infomercial, save yourself some money and a large headache and hit the gym instead!