Women and cellulite

Many women are worried about cellulite. To prevent and treat cellulite, we must consider three aspects: healthy diet, exercise and proper skin hydration (Rosales, 2014).

The exercise stimulates blood and lymphatic circulation during the muscle contraction (Rosales 2014).

Therefore, to prevent and treat it, we must perform different types of exercises such as:

• Aerobic exercise:
• Performing 20-30 minutes everyday activities as walking, running, swimming, biking, etc. (Rosales, 2014).

Photo 1 taken from correryfitness.com

• Strength exercise:
• Performing strength exercises 3-5 times per week and 20 minutes per session.(Rosales, 2014).

Photo 2 taken from sportlife.es

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

Thanks for reading.

Rosales Ricardo, Y. (2014). Masaje y ejercicios físicos en casos con paniculopatía edemato-fibro esclerótica en la atención primaria. Revista Habanera de Ciencias Médicas, 13(3), 475-486.

Physical exercise: Sedentary women

It’s known that the increase of the age provokes several changes in the body, one of them is the reduction of the lean mass. Furthermore, the sedentarism accompanied by a high caloric diet can arouse the increase of the fat mass (Hill & Melanson, 1999).

That factor, the increment of the fat mass, may induce diseases such as obesity, hypertension and an increment on the mortality (Layman & cols. 2005).

There’re many solutions to solve the problem, but I would like to speak about one of them and it’s the physical exercise. It’s as simple as it seems. The American Collage of Sport Medicine (ACSM), says that adult people need 150 minutes of physical exercise (moderate intensity) per week, which means we have to do 20-30 minutes per day (ACSM, 2012) to improve our way of life.

So, what kind of exercise should we do? Well, lifting dumbbells in the gym can be boring for some women, then the alternative is to make a circuit which can consist in:

• 9 exercises
• 2 sets (completing 9 exercises per set)
• 8-12 repetitions per exercise
• 1 minute to rest afeter each exercise
• The maximum weigh to complete 8-12 repetitions

Example:

1.     90º Squat
2.     Press bench
3.     Low pulling rowing
4.     Leg press
5.     Arm dumbbell rowing
6.     Dumbbell press on incline bench
7.     Knee bending machine
8.     Standing barbell rowing
9.      Crunches (supine)                                  

 Figure 1 Pre/post work out body composition

   

That circuit improved the body mass of 14 sedentary healthy women including an increase of lean mass and a decreased of fat mass (figure 1) (F.C. Ferreira y cols, 2009).

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

Thanks for reading.

Hill, J.O., and Melanson, E.L. 1999. Overview of the determinants of overweight and obesity: current evidence and research issues. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 31(Suppl. 11): S515–S521.

Layman, D.K., Evans, E., Baum, J.I., Seyler, J., Erickson, D.J., and Boileau, R.A. 2005.Dietary protein and exercise have additive effects on body composition during weight loss in adult women. J. Nutr. 135(8): 1903–1910.

Pérez Samaniego, V., & Devís Devís, J. (2003). La promoción de la actividad física relacionada con la salud. La perspectiva de proceso y de resultado.Revista internacional de medicina y ciencias de la actividad física y el deporte, 3(10), 69-74.

Ricardo L. Scarfó. (2014). Circuito de Fuerza en mujeres sedentarias: composición corporal, sistema inmunológico y morfología cardiovascular. Visited February 19th of 2015, in G-SE web site: http://g-se.com/es/entrenamiento-de-la-fuerza-y-potencia/blog/circuito-de-fuerza-en-mujeres-sedentarias-composicion-corporal-sistema-inmunologico-y-morfologia-cardiovascular.

How do women face midlife ?

Coinciding with menopause, for many women, midlife is considered a complicated period of life in which several changes occur:

• Psycho-social and physiological changes [1].
• Menopausal related weight gain [2].
• Women are less likely to comply with physical activity recommendations, and when potentially deleterious effects of earlier health and lifestyle behaviours become apparent and chronic disease risk increases [3].

Some women face this phase with relief but many others face it with lots of negative emotions. The reason of this duality can be that the expectation and anticipation of these symptoms would make it easier for the first group [4].

So, taking this into account, we recommend knowing in advance the possible effects menopause could provoke in the organism so that women get mentally and physically prepared to face midlife.

Many thanks to Debra Anderson and Charlotte Seib [5] for their article published online on January, 2015. You can check it out by clicking here.

Photo taken by Marina Guimaraes

[1] Lawlor DA, Ebrahim S, Smith GD. The association of socio-economic position across the life course and age at menopause: the British Women’s Heart and Health Study. BJOG 2003;110(12):1078–87.

[2] Nejat EJ, Polotsky AJ, Pal L. Predictors of chronic disease at midlife and beyond the health risks of obesity. Maturitas 2010;65(2):106–11.

[3] Mishra GD, Cooper R, Kuh D. A life course approach to reproductive health: theory and methods. Maturitas 2010;65(2):92–7.

[4] Melby MK, Sievert LL, Anderson D, Obermeyer CM. Overview of methods used in cross-cultural comparisons of menopausal symptoms and their determinants: Guidelines for Strengthening the Reporting of Menopause and Aging (STROMA) studies. Maturitas 2011;70(2):99–109.

[5] Anderson D, Seib C. Does exercise alleviate menopausal symptoms in women? Maturitas 2015;80(1):1-2.

Hello World!

Hello world, hello on-line community!

Since this is our first post, we'd like to start from the beginning. So let's introduce ourselves:

By Central Intelligence Agency [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

We are three sportive people who are finishing our studies of Sports Science at the University of Alicante, Spain. From our sportive and scientific background, we'd like to let you know rigorous and scientific information about females, health and physical condition. So, if you are in this group of population or, if you just want to increase your knowledge... just follow us!

You won't regret! We'll do our best just to keep you updated in this subject.

Hoping to become a reference for you.

Greetings.

Our team