Fitness & Wellness

If you’ve read much on health issues, you’ll notice the focus has changed. Now longevity has overtaken the “Anti-Aging” mantra for most people. Living longer means doing everything necessary for a healthier life. It means eating healthy, getting adequate exercise and sleep and avoid negative behavior such as drinking too much, smoking, using illegal drugs and stress-giving behavior.

It’s not all about genes.

You may have won the genetic lottery, but that doesn’t automatically guarantee longevity. In fact, longevity only plays approximately a 30 percent role in the length of your life. More and more the research shows that what you do, your attitude and your environment play a major role in just how long you live. Something as simple as getting adequate sleep can help prevent serious conditions that affect your longevity. Often the habits we establish as children with parents as examples have the biggest effect on our health, rather than the actual genetic makeup.

It may be all about telomeres.

What are telomeres? They’re like aglets—those little plastic tubes at the end of shoelaces. Aglets help prevent the shoelace from unraveling and telomeres cap off DNA strands and prevent it from being damaged. As each cell replicates itself, the telomeres get shorter, creating the potential for cell death or damage more probable. The length of telomeres dictates the biological, not the chronological age, of a person. If cells are damaged or die, they can’t replicate and that’s how aging or disease takes place.

Strong mitochondria are also important for longevity.

Your cells get all their fuel from mitochondria. It’s like the battery pack for the cell or the tiny furnace. The stronger your mitochondria is, the stronger your body and brain is. When the quality of the mitochondria or activity declines, you see the changes in the body that are associated with aging and diseases You can lengthen telomeres with habits like exercising regularly, reducing and controlling stress, eating a healthy diet and practicing mindfulness or meditation.

• HIIT is one way to help boost the production and efficiency of mitochondria. So is eating anti-inflammatory foods. The simple four-minute nitric oxide dump exercise may also give your mitochondria a boost.
• Simply taking a walk in the sunshine can also boost longevity. While there are dangers of too much sun, you need some to create the vitamin D necessary for healthier functioning. Smart exposure is important.
• Get social. Good relationships, laughing and smiling more are also linked to longevity. So is an active sex life.

One of the amazing things about studies, is that they often come up with contradictory results. While one study found that people who used supplements were often healthier, other studies show they have no effect. What’s the reason for that contradiction? A third study showed that people who used supplements also exercised regularly, ate healthy meals and did other things, like not smoking or drinking in moderation, that kept them healthier. There is logic to the reason that supplements are not the answer. It comes from the chemical interactions that occur when you eat whole foods and the way the supplements were made.

Whole foods contain many different nutrients.

Consider the blueberry, its chemicals and nutrients have been studied as a tool for helping with a number of conditions. One study showed the anthocyanin—the phytochemical in blueberries that makes them blue—helps prevent cancer, but isolating it proved to be not as effective. The reason for that contradiction? I’m not a chemist, but logic tells me it isn’t just one phytochemical or phytonutrient in the berry that makes it work, it’s the synergy amongst all the nutrients. Rather than popping a vitamin, pop a few blueberries in your smoothie.

Fiber isn’t part of many supplements.

Fiber is so important for both weight loss and good health. It gives you a feeling of fullness. Dietary fiber also helps you eliminate toxins and takes the bloat away. It lowers the risk of many different types of cancer too. Supplements like a multivitamin, simply don’t provide that fiber the body requires. They often lack the micronutrients that are known to be important substances to improve health. Even more so, every day new studies discover the importance of these micronutrients that often aren’t found in multiple vitamins.

Whole food contain antioxidants that help prevent aging.

Antioxidants protect cells and cell death and damage leads not only to illness, but also aging. While whole foods contain these health giving nutrients, many supplements don’t. Even though vitamin A and vitamin C are antioxidants, whole foods contain other substaances that can boost their effect or change the way the body uses them.

• Many of the nutrients provided in vitamin supplements are manmade and not easy to digest. They often fail to break down in the system and are often flushed away in the toilet.
• It’s far easier to overdose on supplements than it is to overdose on the same nutrient in whole foods. You’d simply have to eat far too much. Vitamin A, for instance, comes from beta-carotene. The body will only convert as much as it needs.
• Some dietary supplements are beneficial for people with special dietary needs. You need to remember that their name says it all. It’s a supplement, not a substitute for whole food.
• If you’re trying to boost your nutritional intake, toss extra herbs and spices into your dishes. They’re relatively inexpensive compared o supplements—especially if you grow your own. You can also add them to vinegar, allow it to sit and use that as a lower calorie dressing.

Give Yourself a Fitness Summer Surprise Create Healthier Meals with Herbs and SpicesSupplements Are Not the Answer (ATTN: Not for Long Island Guy that sells them)

It’s summer and traditionally the time to have fun. Sure, we all have a work week yet, but our minds still remember the fun of summer vacation when we were still back in school. Just because the boss says you can’t take the summer off, it doesn’t mean that you can’t make it more fun. You can give yourself a fitness summer surprise that will make this summer more memorable and help you reach your fitness goals.

Take up a new sport!

I have an older client that tells about his summer of hang gliding, as though it were yesterday. It happened quite a long time ago when the sport was young. He and a group of others would carry their kites up a large local sand dune, jump off and soar in the wind. This guy is pretty muscular and gives the credit for building his muscles to carrying that fifty pound kite up the dunes thirty times a day. It got him started on the path to regular exercise. You don’t have to hang glide to do something different. Just make it active and something you might end up passionate about. Make your summer surprise a pass to several new adventures that help you get fitter while having fun.

Go on a weekend safari.

Put on your pith helmet and get out the butterfly net. It’s time to stalk big game, or maybe birds and butterflies. Take adventure walks to spot local wildlife or search for rock specimens for a collection. Rent or borrow a metal detector and hunt for hidden treasures. I know of an older man that used to go out early in the morning and walk to the area where there are drive through windows, searching with his metal detector for money and other finds. He also used it under the bleachers after sporting events. He walked everywhere he searched, which was his way of getting exercise.

Give yourself a fitness gift for motivation.

It can be as simple as purchasing a low cost wrist band that identifies your heart rate, which is perfect for anyone doing HIIT workouts or a pedometer. These are relatively low cost items and often cheaper than a Starbucks a day for a week. If you aren’t already working out at Iron Fit signing up for circuit training could be a great gift. For those mothers who are members, signing up your children for Youth Summer Camp could be a great way to free your workout time and get the whole family fit.

• If you’ve reached a fitness goal, even if the goal is just to workout for four weeks, buy yourself a new workout outfit. Looking good can boost your confidence and provide more incentive to go to the gym.
• Give yourself the ultimate summer fitness surprise. Start eating healthier and working out. At the end of summer, you’ll see a whole new you.
• Create a summer buffet of healthy food. Spend just an hour planning quick, but healthy summer meals you can make ahead. You’ll sometimes find them already planned on the internet. Surprise yourself every night with a new meal that only takes minutes of work to get from refrigerator or freezer to the table.
• Treat yourself to a luxury. You don’t have to accomplish anything, reach any goal or do anything special to give yourself a gift of luxury this summer. Consider a day at the spa, a massage or anything you’ve always wanted but didn’t consider it a necessity. Make it a Christmas gift to yourself from yourself in July.

If you’re looking for one magic key to getting fit, you’re going to be very disappointed with this article. There’s no one key to a successful program, but several important keys. The first one to fitness is getting started. No matter who I talk to, most people who have led a sedentary life find they spend a huge amount of time planning and reading about working out before they actually start. So, the very first key is to begin! Don’t wait to find the perfect workout or even wait until you have time to come in for an evaluation with a personal trainer. Start with something simple, like going for a walk after dinner.

Now that you’re moving, sit down and decide what your fitness goals are.

I know we always start you off, first with an assessment and then by helping to create a goal, before you ever begin a workout, but that’s when we’re creating your plan. For people working out on their own, just moving should be a starter. Once you’re moving, you need to decide what you want to achieve to create a plan that gets the best results.

Create the steps to reach your goals.

Those steps may include eating healthier with a specific whole food diet and a workout program that’s tough, but still doable. Some people who workout at this gym have tried a number of videos to help them on their quest. Unfortunately, the videos don’t jump out and wait for you to put them in the DVD and you aren’t held accountable if you miss a session. That brings me to a super important key to getting fit.

Stick with it.

Consistency, consistency, consistency!!! That’s the real key to fitness. Making sure you eat healthy and sticking with a plan of action even when you might feel discouraged or aren’t seeing results. Stick with it! You don’t have to have a sophisticated plan, like we’d provide you with at the gym. That just helps you achieve your goal faster. One man could barely walk because of his overwhelming obesity. In fact, the doctor told him he’d soon be crippled and then die. He started a program of exercise…well kind of a program of exercise. He opened his door and walked from his door to the curb, gasping for breath. Each week he went a little further and in a couple of years, became a distance runner, shedding several hundred pounds on his journey.

Personal trainers can provide a plan that will help you reach your goals quicker, which is why they’re so popular, but only you can achieve your fitness goals by carrying out those plans.

• Make sure you include activities you enjoy each week, such as dancing, tennis or even walking. They provide great exercise and keep you moving, while helping you achieve your goals.
• Look into some of the shorter exercise techniques if you’re stressed for time, such as HIIT.
• Find a workout buddy. Exercising with a friend are not only fun, they can boost your motivation and keep you accountable. It’s one reason we do group workout sessions.
• Find ways new ways to exercise that provide a total body workout, such as using kettlebells. They’re fun and produce great results quickly.

I’ve recently heard one of my clients talk about their aunt, touting how mentally sharp she was for her age. It seemed to assume that the older you get, the more you “dumb down.” While you might think it’s true, it’s not the number of years you live that determine your mental sharpness or a guarantee that senility is part of the aging process. Even though genetics also plays an important role, it’s the lifestyle you live that makes a difference whether you’re mentally viable in your senior years. Here are some natural ways to fight mental aging.

Get plenty of exercise.

Studies show that exercise can help improve cognitive functioning. In fact, just walking briskly can help bring big changes in the brain. A study in 2017 determined that not only did walking briskly three times a week for an hour lower blood pressure, it also helped improve thinking skills. Another study showed that people with the e4 gene—APOE epsilon4, a gene that identifies people at risk for Alzheimer’s, could lower that risk with exercising. After 18 months of studying four groups of people, two groups with the e4 gene, one group exercising and one group not and two groups without it divided the same, the e4 group who didn’t exercise had significant atrophy of the hippocampus area of the brain, which is a signal for the onset of Alzheimer’s. Other studies show exercising boosts brain activity.

Eating healthy and maintaining a normal weight helps.

Healthy eating and weight control, along with regular exercise helps reduce the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. There’s a huge correlation between cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment. Atherosclerosis, for instance, means that fat and cholesterol causes inflammation that thickens the arteries and slows the blood to the brain. Lower levels of oxygen and nutrient laden blood affect brain cells.

Your sleep position can affect brain aging.

It may sound odd, but how you sleep makes a difference. A study in 2015 found that people who sleep on their side help the brain to clear waste products and by doing that, lowers the risk of diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Most wild animals and people tend to sleep on their sides for a reason. It helps the brain function at optimal level by improving the waste removal in the glymphatic and lymphatic systems. The waste are chemicals, tau proteins and amyloid that can build up and affect its functioning. Side sleeping also lowers the risk for sleep apnea and reduce snoring.

• Be aware of the damage of anticholinergic drugs. Anticholinergic drugs are medications used for sleep and allergies. You might recognize them by names like Dramamine, Benadryl, Unison and Advil PM. Scientist are finding more and more links to continued use of these drugs and dementia.
• Find a purpose in life. If you’ve ever met a person that retired from a job that was their whole life and within a year or two either had a health crisis or passed, you probably already recognized the link between feeling useful and driven to achieve a goal and ill health.
• Make sure you have adequate vitamin D. One study shows that a vitamin D deficiency can increase the risk of dementia by 122%. Getting healthy exposure to the sun can lower your risk.
• Avoiding foods laden with pesticides is another way to keep your brain healthy. Check the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 list. Purchase organic foods listed on the dirty dozen and opt for the cheaper, non organic foods on the Clean 15.