Sunday 10 May 2015

Kegel exercises: how to do them

We already payed attention on how to do some Kegel exercises on this post.

Now, we'd like to show you a video in which steadyhealth.com in its youtube channel in which they show us how to do Kegel exercises.



For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for following.

Physical exercise: Pregnant women (IX)

From the American Pregnancy Association, here some information about the benefits from exercise during pregnancy that you may experience:
  • Helps reduce backaches, constipation, bloating, and swelling.
  • May help prevent or treat gestational diabetes.
  • Increases your energy.
  • Improves your mood.
  • Improves your posture.
  • Promotes muscle tone, strength, and endurance.
  • Helps you sleep better.
  • Regular activity also helps keep you fit during pregnancy and may improve your ability to cope with labor. This will make it easier for you to get back in shape after your baby is born.
Photo taken from pixabay.com

You can also visit this page for more information about the effects of exercise on pregnancy.

For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

American Pregnancy Association. What Are The Benefits Of Exercise During Pregnancy? Recovered from http://americanpregnancy.org/ on 10th May 2015

Friday 8 May 2015

A simple exercise to prevent osteoporosis

Today we'd like to share a video uploaded by DrGeorgeBest in his youtube's channel.
As he explains in the video, we advance you that the exercise he proposes it is an exercise based on a scientific investigation made in 1998 for the Journal of bone and mineral research. It is based on the fact that the mineral density grows up or at least decreases slowlier (depending on the age) with exercises that provokes some impact on our bones.


For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for following.

Osteoporosis: diagnosis and prevention

Today we leave an interesting video about the osteoporosis that instituto Taladriz wants to share with us at its channel in youtube. You want to know a little bit more? Just have a sit and watch this video:


For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for following.

Wednesday 6 May 2015

Training trends

Photo taken from www.pixabay.com

Years ago going to the gym normally consisted on guided classes like pilates, step, aerobics, yoga or training-weight. But, nowadays, thanks to the new trends and the new studies, new trainings are appearing.

They are short trainings in which it is not necessary a lot of time to train. 

We are going to present a series of new trainings that serve to improve your physical condition and to illuminate a perfect body.
  • HIIT: as his name says High Intensity Intervalic Training and consists of series from 30 seconds to 2 minutes to 90 % FC and rest of 2-5 minutes. It is possible to do in bicycle or career.
  • Crossfit: they are constant varied exercises, with functional movements executed at high intensity.
  • Tabata: it is a training of 4 minutes at maximum intensity. 20 seconds working and 10 seconds between the exercises, resting.
These new trainings due to the intensity demanded are only recommend to those women who are in a good condition, since our body is forced to the limit.

For any question, don´t hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

Peña, G., Heredia, J. R., Segarra, V., Mata, F., Isidro, F., Martín, F., & Da Silva, M. E. (2013). Generalidades del “HIT” aplicado a esfuerzos cardiovasculares en los programas de salud y fitness. EFDeportes. com, Revista Digital. Buenos Aires, 18(183).

Key exercises to fight osteoporosis

After several posts about osteoporosis, as we already know, it strikes both sexes, but it is more common in women. However, exercise is a key step in preventing osteoporosis. 
So, today we leave you a video that WTNH News8, an english TV channel, shares in its youtube channel:


For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

Exercise during pregnancy

Today we'd like to share with you a slideshare about recommended exercise during pregnancy.


Shared by Dokka Srinivasu on this link.

For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

Genetic or bad diet?

This question should appear in many women .. but, why?.. Often we throw the fault of our "kilos" of more to the genetics, but we do not think that it can be due to the fact that we take an unbalanced diet. 

Chance or not, the obese persons are those who throw the fault to the genetics but don´t realize that they are sedentary persons, and this does that they eat without control. The problem is that if you consume more that you spend, it cannot look for the excuse of the genetics.

Photo taken by MilitaryHealth on flicker
It is clear that the genetics exists, not we all have the same body, and in addition every body can change depending on the diet or the exercise of different form. But really with the overweight it is necessary to bear in mind that if it becomes exhausted more than it is consumed it is impossible to have it.

The mistake is in that the persons with obesity do not see the failure in the excess of calories and are not prepared mentally in that they need really, and what these persons need is A PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.

To these persons overcoat they lacking will for improving his aspect and not only it, improving his quality of life. It is true, that want to lose weight, but they are not conscious that for it must start moving the body, to realize physical exercise and to take care of the supply, that is to say, to realize a healthy and balanced diet.

To finish, do not put excuses how the genetics and put to work from already. You will obtain big physical, psychological and biological changes. The physical activity is the best remedy for the diseases, don´t doubt it.

For any question, don´t hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

Obesity: the importance of physical activity

Postmenopausal women

As Morales, Gómez- Hair, González- Aguero, Casajús, Ara, & Vicente - Rodriguez (2013 ) say, the aging is a natural physiological process associated with different changes, among which is a drop in fitness he says.

One of the changes that occur in women is the onset of menopause and has seen that a sedentary lifestyle negatively affects among this population.

Physical activity continuously and regularly improves muscle strength , increase lean mass, strengthens bones, increases coordination and neuromotor response, etc. On the other hand , practice regular physical activity can improve fitness among older people and thus better quality of life for people.


Photo taken from www.guard2fitness.com


So if we relate fitness and physical inactivity , one can say that a sedentary lifestyle has a negative influence on the physical condition of postmenopausal women .

Since a low level of fitness it is related to various diseases and with reduced mobility , women should reduce sedentary time in older women in order to ensure the maintenance of physical fitness as much as possible and thereby reduce the negative consequences of the aging process. (Morales, Gómez- Hair, González- Aguero, Casajús, Ara, & Vicente - Rodriguez, 2013).

All women is recommended who practice physical activity regularly , regardless of age, since this provides many benefits as physical , biological and psychological as we have seen in other post.



For any question, don´t hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.
Thanks for reading.




Morales, S., Gómez-Cabello, A., González-Agüero, A., Casajús, J. A., Ara, I., & Vicente-Rodríguez, G. (2013). Sedentarismo y condición física en mujeres postmenopáusicas. Nutrición Hospitalaria, 28(4), 1053-1059

Tuesday 5 May 2015

The importance of being active before pregnancy

Since last post, "Exercise in postpartum period" we haven't talked about how important is performing physical activity before pregnancy.

There are posts where we have talked about the way of doing physical activity, which exercises to perform, which recommendation, etc.

Therefore, in this post we are going to talk about an investigation done by Hayes et al. (2015) four days ago. They tried to find out a pattern of physical activity (PA) and factors associated with change in PA in obese pregnant women.

As we know, being obese while pregnant can develope complications such as spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, high blood pressure and gestational diabetes (Linné, 2004).

The results obtained at the end of the research were that those women who performed physical activity before being pregnant continue doing it. Otherwise, those who were sedentary or didn't perform so much exercise had problems carrying on with the exercises.

For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.
Photo taken from  www.bebesyembarazo.com


Hayes, L., Mcparlin, C., Kinnunen, T. I., Poston, L., Robson, S. C., & Bell, R. (2015). Change in level of physical activity during pregnancy in obese women: findings from the UPBEAT pilot trial. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 15(1), 52.

Linne, Y. (2004). Effects of obesity on women's reproduction and complications during pregnancy. Obesity reviews, 5(3), 137-143.

Physical activity for adults: sitting exercises

Here we recommend you several easy exercises taken from the NHS which can be done easily sitting on a chair. Highly recommended for elderly people.


Resultado de imagen de chair exercises for seniors
Photo taken by Sparkle Glowplug

  1. Chest stretch: this stretch is good for posture.
  2. Upper body twist: this stretch will develop and maintain flexibility in the upper back.
  3. Hip marching: this exercise will strengthen hips and thighs and improve flexibility.
  4. Ankle stretch: this stretch will improve ankle flexibility and lower the risk of developing a blood clot.
  5. Arm raises: this exercise builds shoulder strength.
  6. Neck stretch: this stretch is good for loosening tight neck muscles.
  7. Neck rotation: this stretch is good for improving neck movility and flexibility.

Download the entire document from this pdf (975 KB)


For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.


National Health Service (NHS). UK, 2014. Sitting exercises. Recovered on 5th May 2015 from http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/sitting-exercises-for-older-people.aspx

Nutrition: what to eat before, during and after exercise

Let's have a look at these slides here below which talks about the way we should feed ourselves on a good way:

Guidelines for sport nutrition

Do you practice sport and you want to supplement it with a diet? Well, in this post I'm going to give you some tips so that you can guide your diet.

In summary, we have to take into account the intake of the carbohydrates, proteins and fatty acids.
  • Carbohydrates (CH) - spplies your body with energy. If we don't consume them then they'll turn in fatty acids (over time) // 60% of the total energy value (65-70% if it's an intensive exercise).
  • Proteins - mainly serve a structural function // 15% of the total energy value.
  • Fatty acids - they are the main energy reserve of body // 25% of the total energy value (15-20% if it's an intensive exercise).
So, how much should I eat per day?
  • CH - according to the Nation Academy of Science (NAC) we should eat an amount of 45-65% of CH and 25-10% of simple sugar
  • Proteins - accoring to the ACSM (2000) 1,2-14 g/Kg if we perform resistance training // 1,6-1,7 g/Kg if we perform strength exercises.
  • Fatty acids - saturated (less than 10%), monounsaturated (between 10-15%), polyunsaturated (10%).

Photo taken from commons.wikimedia.org




In the next post we will talk about what to it before, during and after the exercise.

For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.


Collado, E. R., & Bermudo, F. M. (2002). Nutrición y deporte: aspectos generales y aplicados.

Exercise for Strong Bones (IV)

In the 3 previous posts about "Exercise for strong bones", we've seen some type of exercises to strong bones, improve balance, improve posture, see how well we move in everyday activities, improve muscle strength and also decrease the risk of falls and broken bones.

Now, we'd like to present a table in which we recommend you how much exercise you need to do of each type:


Table composed from the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

To increase your knowledge about this topic, consult the official web page of the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Thanks for reading.

National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2015. Osteoporosis is preventable. Recovered on 5th of May 2015 from http://nof.org

Exercise for strong bones (III)

This third type, is not a proper group of exercises to strong bones.


Non-impact exercises can help you to improve:
  • Balance
  • Posture
  • How well you move in everyday activities
  • Muscle strength
  • Decrease the risk of falls and broken bones
Here below some of these exercises:
  • Balance exercises that strengthen your legs and test your balance, such as Tai Chi, can decrease your risk of falls.
  • Posture exercises that improve your posture and reduce rounded or “sloping” shoulders can help you decrease the chance of breaking a bone, especially in the spine.
  • Functional exercises that improve how well you move can help you with everyday activities and decrease your chance of falling and breaking a bone. For example, if you have trouble getting up from a chair or climbing stairs, you should do these activities as exercises.
We recommend that you work with a specialist who can teach you balance, posture and functional exercises.

To increase your knowledge about this topic, consult the official web page of the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Thanks for reading.

National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2015. Osteoporosis is preventable. Recovered on 5th of May 2015 from http://nof.org

Exercise for Strong Bones (II)

In order to build and maintain bone density, there are 2 types of exercises:
  • Weight-bearing.
  • Muscle-strengthening.

Let's start now with muscle-strengthening exercises:

These are the type of exercises that include activities where you move your body, a weight or some other resistance against gravity.
Here below some examples of muscle-strengthening exercises:
  • Lifting weights
  • Using elastic exercise bands
  • Using weight machines
  • Lifting your own body weight
  • Functional movements, such as standing and rising up on your toes
There are many other type of exercises which could be added to this group such as Yoga, Pilates, etc. but be careful some exercises depending on the position of the body may cause risk of broken bones for people with osteoporosis.

To increase your knowledge about this topic, consult the official web page of the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Thanks for reading.

National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2015. Osteoporosis is preventable. Recovered on 5th of May 2015 from http://nof.org

Exercise for Strong Bones (I)

In order to build and maintain bone density, there are 2 types of exercises:
  • Weight-bearing.
  • Muscle-strengthening.

Let's start with weight-bearing exercises:

They are exercises that make you move against gravity while staying upright. They can be high-impact or low-impact, as shown in the image above.

High-impact weight-bearing exercises help build bones and keep them strong. But, if you have broken a bone due to osteoporosis or are at risk of breaking it, it's better avoiding this type of exercises. In case of doubt, you should check with your healthcare provider.
Here below some examples of high-impact weight-bearing exercises:
  • Dancing
  • Doing high-impact aerobics
  • Hiking
  • Jogging/running
  • Jumping Rope
  • Stair climbing
  • Tennis
If you can't do high-impact exercises, low-impact weight-bearing exercises are a safer alternative for you. Here below some low-impact weight-bearing exercises:
  • Using elliptical training machines
  • Doing low-impact aerobics
  • Using stair-step machines
  • Fast walking on a treadmill or outside
To increase your knowledge about this topic, consult the official web page of the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Thanks for reading.

National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2015. Osteoporosis is preventable. Recovered on 5th of May 2015 from http://nof.org

Monday 4 May 2015

Benefits of exercise

Box fitness

Side bridge progression

As we know, when we're performing physical activity we have to take into account that we can't begin so high because we can get injured. So that, in the post "Be in shape: Part II" I talked about the benefits of this exercise.

There are 6 levels:
  1. Side Bridge supported kneeling ( short lever ) for beginners and those who are experiencing low back problems.
  2. Side bridge with elbow support and both feet ( long lever ).
  3. Side bridge with elbow support ( short lever ).
  4. Side bridge with extended elbow ( long lever ) for a greater commitment on the shoulder.
  5. Dynamic Side Bridge with elbow support ( short lever ) : for a stronger commitment from the obliques.
  6. Dynamic Side Bridge with extended elbow ( long lever ) for a greater commitment on the shoulder and oblique.


Side bridge with extended elbow (long lever) 



Side bridge with elbow support and both feet (long lever)




As we can see, the difficulty is in increased. Each one should know which level should begin.

Once we perform this exercise perfectly, we can introduce implements like bosu, fitness ball, TRX, increasing the height of the feet with a bank, etc.


For any question, don´t hesítate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.


Pablo Añon. (2013). Side bridge. 04/05/2015, de G-SE Sitio web: http://g-se.com/es/entrenamiento-en-voleibol/blog/ejercicio-de-la-semana-puente-o-plancha-lateral

Be in shape: Part II

Summer is comming! 

In previous post I've wrote about legs and butocks's exercises but I've not spoken about the waist. Which exercises should I perform? Well, there're a thousands of them bout not all have the same effects in our body. So, I'm going to show you one of the best exercises to work out our waist.

It's name is side bridge, and it has many benefits like:

  1. With it we're training at the same time our abdomen (Bhem & cols, 2005) and lumbar square (McGill, 2006).
  2. It has low raquis impact (McGill,, 2006).
  3. It's a good exercise for beginners.
  4. Gluteous is activated as well, preventing that the waist doesn't fall.
  5. In adittion, we're training our serratus anterior and latissimus dorsi (scapulo-humeral stabilization).
In the next post we'll talk about the exercise's progression.


For any question, don´t hesítate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.


Taken from Vitónica.com



McGill SM. (2006). Low back dis-orders: Evidence-based prevention and rehabilitation. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Exercise in the postpartum period

We have talk about what do we have to perform during pregnancy but we haven't talked about what to do after in te postpartum period.

Thus, exercise routines may be resumed only gradually after pregnancy and should be individualised, quite important this last point. It's more,physical activity can thus be resumed as soon as physically and medically safe and after medical's consent. 

As an advice, nurse your infant before exercise, so you can avoid the potential problems associated with increased acidity of milk.

Undoubtedly, having undergone detraining, resumption of activities should be gradual. No known maternal complications are associated with resumption of training. It's important to know our limits, so you can decide when you should stop doing exercise. 

The recomendations (intensity, type of exercise and duration) are equal as the previous posts. Don't foget the principle of progression of training.

Finally, a return to physical activity after pregnancy has been associated with decreased postpartum depression, but only if the exercise is stress relieving and not stress provoking.


Post partum period



For any question, don´t hesítate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

Koltyn KF, Schultes SS. Psychological effects of an aerobic exercise session and a rest session following pregnancy. J Sports Med Phys Fitness1997;37:287–91.

"Bikini operation"

Now that summer comes every women want to start training her body to show it in the beach ... but with no much succeed. Why does this happen?

It is true, that when summer approaches all the girls want to be skinny to wear her bikini and show off the body, but it is clear that it is not to train alone for a month. In my opinion this “bikini operation” should be throughout the year and not just during the summer.

The purpose of body fitness and get everyone you look at the beach, is a job that requires more time. First, it is to work continuously for a long period and gradually always for improvements.

It also influences the diet that we follow, and that to have a profit must pay close attention to food much. Not getting a good body should stop eating, but you have to eat the same amount but better quality.

Finally, there are many whose low motivation stop training and thus not achieve their goals. You train hard, at first things will be difficult but not discouraged you have to work to get what we want.

Therefore, don´t wait until summer arrives to train ... START NOW!

For any question, don´t hesítate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

Training and breast cancer

Yoga class


Today there are so many benefits of physical activity, we do not know to what extent can benefit us. Breast cancer is a common occurrence among women and according to some study training has benefits for this.

Here we will highlight some features that occur before and after training:

BEFORE

  • Arm swelling
  • Physical Limitations
  • Weight gain
  • Fatigue related cancer Poor Quality of Life
  • Chemo-brain 
  • depression
  • Ansiety
  • Sleep disturbance
  • Cardiac diamage
  • VO2 levels reduction
  • Bone mass loss
  • Muscle mass loss
  • Articular pain


AFTER

  • Chemo-brain reduced
  • Less psychological symptom
  • Improve cardiac function
  • VO2 levels increases 
  • Improve bone mass
  • Increase muscle mass
  • Reduce articular pain
  • Arm swelling reduction
  • Physical function recovery
  • Weight loss
  • Reduce fatigue related cancer improve quality of life
The exercises recomended are as following:

Physical activity intervention

  • Articular soft movements and stretching.
  • Aerobic exercise with intensity changes
  • Resistance exercise of upper-body limbs and legs
  • Impact activities
  • Group clases
IMPORTANT:  Running away from side effects: physical exercise as a complementary intervention for breast cancer patients

For more information click the image below so you can wath a power point about this isue.



For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

How to prevent osteoporosis (III)

The NOF suggests several actions to take care about osteoporosis, based on prevention and healthy living:

So, what can we do to protect our bones?

Image taken by George Stepanek
For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2015. Osteoporosis is preventable. Recovered on 4th of May 2015 from http://nof.org

Osteoporosis: who and when ?

As you can see in the image below, peak bone mass in men are higher than in women.

Whilst children have more or less the same mass of skeletal calcium, with age, decreasing bone mass is more accentuated in women than in men. Indeed, at the age of 50-60, it decreases more rapidly than in men.

Bone density peaks occur at about 30 years of age.

Image taken from CFCF

Taking into account the race, while osteoporosis occurs in people from all ethnic groups, European or Asian ancestry predisposes for osteoporosis (Melton, 2003).

For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

Rice university, 2013. Anatomy & Physiology. Recovered on 4th of May 2015 from http://cnx.org/content/col11496/1.6/
Melton LJ, 2003. Epidemiology worldwide. Endocrinol. Metab. Clin. North Am. 32 (1): 1–13

How to prevent osteoporosis (II)

Did you know that about 85-90 percent of adult bone mass is acquired by age 18 in girls and 20 in boys?

Did you know that building strong bones during childhood and adolescence can help prevent osteoporosis later in life?

Let's see five steps NOF recommends to improve bone health and prevent osteoporosis:
1. Get the calcium and vitamin D you need every day.
2. Do regular weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises.
3. Don’t smoke and don’t drink too much alcohol.
4. Talk to your healthcare provider about your chance of getting osteoporosis and ask when
you should have a bone density test.
5. Take an osteoporosis medication when it’s right for you.

For more information, don't stop reading this pdf taken from the NOF.

For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

Microarchitecture of bone in health and in osteoporosis. Image taken from Gtirouflet

National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2015. Osteoporosis is preventable. Recovered on 4th of May 2015 from http://nof.org

May is national osteoporosis month!

January, February, March, April, and... we are now on May! May is national osteoporosis month and since this blog is dedicating several posts to it, we shouldn't let this pass by.

File:OsteoCutout.png
Photo taken by James Heilman


Thanks for helping us creating a healthier world :)

National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2015. May is National Osteoporosis Month. Recovered on 4th of May 2015 from http://nof.org

Osteoporosis: how to help!

Just in the USA, osteoporosis causes two million bone breaks every year.

Your help and support is critical to advance the research and discoveries to support current osteoporosis patients and prevent the disease for future generations.  Please donate today or learn more about how you can join NOF efforts by participating in a local support group, joining the Inspire online community, hosting an event and more.

File:Shf ohne dislokation medial ap.jpg
From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), 2015. Recoverd on 4th of May 2015 from http://nof.org/

How to prevent osteoporosis (I)

These are the advises the American  College of Rheumatology suggests to prevent osteoporosis:

- Make sure you get enough calcium in your diet or throughout supplements (about 1000-1200 mg / day, but depending on your age). 

- Get enough vitamin D (400-1,000 IU / day, depending on your age and level of vitamin D in blood controlled by your doctor).

- Stop smoking.

- Avoid excessive alcohol intake: no more than two or three swigs a day .

- Do weight-bearing exercises. Try at least two hours per week (30 minutes a day, five times a week or 50 minutes a day, three times a week), or as much as you can. Exercises which can improve balance, like Tai Chi or yoga, can help prevent falls.

For any question, don't hesitate asking us. We will be glad to help you out with any doubt you have.

Thanks for reading.

Photo taken by Tom Thai

Shreyasee Amin, 2012. American College of Rheumatology.