Join the resistance movement

Resistance training is any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against an external resistance with the aim to increase strength, muscle tone, mass, and/or endurance. The external resistance can be dumbbells, rubber exercise tubing, your own body weight, bricks, bottles of water, or any other object that causes the muscles to contract. Even lifting bags of sand and shifting big bulky tires around an oval is a form of resistance training.

Resistance training is based on the principle that muscles of the body will work to overcome a resistance force when they are required to do so. When resistance training is undertaken repeatedly and consistently, muscles become stronger.

There are many physical and mental health benefits that can be achieved through resistance training. Weight management is one of the most valuable as muscle mass naturally diminishes with age. But resistance training can help preserve and enhance muscle mass and reduce body fat. As you build muscle mass, your body burns calories. Even when you are not exercising, these cells still burn up energy making it easier to control your weight. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it!!! Research shows that physical inactivity is the second leading preventable cause of death and with Australians getting fatter and fatter.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that women will develop large, bulky muscles from lifting weights. The average woman does not produce significant quantities of the male hormone testosterone that cause you to really bulk up. Males are the same. Although there is much more testosterone in the male body the effort and dedication required to get big bulky huge well developed muscle definition takes years. A few sessions a week for 30 minutes will not make you turn into a big, bulky muscle machine but it will dramatically increase your health and wellbeing.

Here are 3 tips to take on board before starting resistance training or if you are involved in resistance training go back and re focus on these factors.

• Warm up and cool down properly including stretching.
  
• Balance your training so that you are working muscles on the front and rear of the body. An imbalance in strength between muscle groups can lead to injury
  
• Make sure you train the deep stabilising or core muscles appropriately. These include the rotator cuff in the shoulder and the deep stabilisers of the low back and neck.

So good luck with your resistance training and I hope these tips help. If you are seriously looking to improve the quality of your lifestyle and need any assistance why not request a Risk Analysis Health Check Diagnostic

Should we greet the Easter Bunny with open arms?

With Easter upon us I thought it a good opportunity to discuss the merits or demerits of those lovely chocolate gifts that are so kindly delivered at this time of year by the Easter Bunny. I have seen a lot of articles recently debating the pros and cons of chocolate and below is my take on the argument.

Believe it or not there are many health benefits to be obtained by eating chocolate, however the chocolate referred to is chocolate in its purest form that is as close to the cocoa bean as you can get. Unfortunately most of the chocolate we see (and eat) is full of added ingredients such as Cocoa Butter, sugar, lecithin, vanilla and milk.

So what can we possibly benefit from eating chocolate then I hear you say? Well the secret is in the cocoa content of the chocolate. The more cocoa, the less of the other ingredients mentioned above. Generally the highest cocoa content is found in dark chocolate and the higher the cocoa content the more antioxidants you will find. These antioxidants help rid the body of free radicals, which are nasty little molecules running amok in your body and causing aging and disease. The antioxidants bond to the free radicals and remove them from your body via digestion and other means.

Some common antioxidants you may have heard of are contained in things such as Red Wine, Green Tea and Blueberries however dark chocolate has even more antioxidants than any of these. Another benefit is that antioxidant rich diets have been scientifically linked to a lowered risk of heart attacks, stroke, cardiovascular disease, cancer, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, arthritis, asthma and Alzheimer’s disease. So we can say that chocolate is good for you when the above is taken into account.

The main down side to the argument is the fat, sugar and caffeine content of all chocolate. As mentioned before the higher the cocoa content the less cocoa butter and therefore less fat contained in chocolate. As for sugar, a strong dark chocolate bar contains approx 10-15 grams of sugar which compares to 22 grams in a glass of orange juice or 29 grams in a cup of yoghurt. With the caffeine, an average bar contains approx 27 milligrams of caffeine which is about half what you would find in a can of coke and a third of what you would find in a cup of coffee.

So for next Easter a small amount of dark chocolate might just be the perfect gift to satisfy your friends sweet tooth while providing the many benefits to their body

If you want to assess your own lifestyle to see what health risks are present, request we send your very own Risk Analysis Health Check.