Thursday, November 30, 2017

Healthy Convenience Stores

   Years ago, when my son was playing travel soccer, I would bribe/reward him for attending the games with a trip to the Krauszer's or Wawa on the way home for some Wild Bill's Shredded Beef Jerky.
    And while that is not as bad for an 11-year old as you may think (lean protein), it really would not qualify as a healthy snack.
     We still love Wild Bill's, although his athletic endeavors segued into distance running and now, lifting weights.
    And while those stores still have plenty of beef jerky choices, some of that is more upscale selections like Perky Jerky, a Colorado-based product made with cage-free, grass-fed meat. Kraft Heinz has come out with a product called the P3 Portable Protein Pack - a mix of meat, cheese, and nuts.
    The trend toward healthier convenience store items was detailed in a recent Chicago Tribune News Service article by Greg Trotter. The National Association of Convenience Stores trade show was held in Chicago in October. The industry is huge ($550 billion in sales last year), but sales of their staples: soda, cigarettes, and in most states, gasoline, are slowing.
    They realize they need to appeal to millenials who are frequenting Starbuck's and Panera Bread for their coffee and quick meals.  Packaged protein bars and over-ripe bananas by the cash register have been part of the convenience store experience for awhile. But now the trend is to more made-to-order food and salads as well.
    According to the article, store owners in lower-income areas felt that devoting coveted shelf space to healthier items will hurt their bottom line. Unhealthy foods are cheaper to purchase, and let's face it, usually are immediately satisfying to the taste buds. However, it's the same old problem, if healthy options are not available, the people definitely will be eating junk. And we know the long-term costs: high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity issues, and higher cancer risks. It was great to see Newark, known for decades as a "food desert" open up a Whole Food Market recently!
    A trip to the convenience store will always conjure up images of hours-old coffee, a huge assortment of lottery tickets, Marlboro's, and, of course, roller dogs. There is something pridefully downscale about it, really, and that will never change completely.
    However, a declining bottom-line and a look to the future as people change their habits are causing not a revolution, but an evolution, in this staple of American life.
 

Monday, November 27, 2017

Preventing Falls for Seniors

  Those of us with aging parents, or of a certain age ourselves, are aware of how life-changing a fall can be for senior citizens.
    The reasons for imbalance in seniors are many: brittle bones, osteoporosis, vertigo, blood pressure and diabetes medication, dementia, Parkinson's, degenerative hips or knees, lack of core strength, muscle atrophy, poor eyesight and hearing.
   An article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution syndicate by Sheila Poole pointed out that while motor vehicle accidents are them main source of trauma patients in area hospitals, among people 65 and above, it is falls.
   The article notes that at least one-third to one-half or seniors will experience a fall, and that accounts for more than 90 percent of hip fractures by older adults. Once an elderly person falls, they are two to three times more likely to stumble again. Often, it turns an independent adult into someone reliant on others, in one form or another.
   These are agonizing statistics for anyone who has gone through this, either personally or with family members.
    While there is no fool-proof way to avoid falls, there are preventative measures:
   *Exercise smartly, but exercise regularly: Focus on movements that build leg and core strength. Light dumbell work is great, as well as yoga, aqua aerobics, elliptical machines or treadmills (make sure there are safety bars along the sides), and Tai Chi.
   *Work on your balance: There are many ways to do this in a gym. Stand on balance disks while replicating upper body movements, and then, if comfortable, try the same thing with light weights. Sit on a stability ball. If that's easy, raise on leg up and hold, or roll back-and-forth. For advanced balance, try standing on one leg for 30 seconds at a time. Have a trainer or spotter close by on all these things, just in case.
   *Review your meds, and see which ones might be causing dizziness and/or drowsiness. Is there a substitute available? Check with your doctor if there is an alternative, or whether your life situation has changed enough (quit smoking, lost weight, etc.) where you can reduce dosage, or perhaps go off the medication entirely. Make sure your doctor and pharmacist know all the medications you are taking, as sometimes the combination of certain things can cause problems.
  *Have your eyes and hearing checked at least once a year.
  *Make your home as safe as it could be. Add grab bars in the shower and bath tub, and next to the toilet. Make sure there are railings on both sides of the stairways, and the entrances are well lit. Try to make as much of your life on on one floor.
  *Diet-wise, make sure you have calcium and Vitamin D to preserve bone strength.
  *Keep a night-light on, to reduce the chance of falling while getting out of bed. Sit up first after sleeping, and then slowly put the feet on the floor and walk.
    My father had back surgery this summer, not from a fall, specifically, but a hairline fracture that got worse as he helped pack for my parent's move to a one-floor apartment. The surgery required general anesthesia, which is complicated at 87. He went through extensive rehab at the Kessler Institute and is continuing to strengthen himself through pool exercises. I remember how great a feeling it was to walk around the hospital floor with him a couple of days after his surgery. One of the nurses cheered us on, and I said "Hey, you can' t get the 26.2 miles, without the .2!"

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Healthy Holiday Tips

  The Holidays are fast approaching - season of family, merriment, and for most Americans, a  3-5 lb.weight gain - that it takes all year to work off. Here are my annual tips to limit the damage.
  *Take advantage of off-time: Yes, everyone's life is a little busier with gift-buying, office parties, etc. But there are more off-days from work this time of year as well. Take advantage of every day off to get a workout in. I always say, your body doesn't realize if it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, or a random Monday in March. It needs some type of activity every day!
   *Mix it up: For runners, cyclists, and other warm-weather athletes, this is the "'off-season." It doesn't mean you exercise less, necessarily, but mix in different things that aren't priorities during your competitive season. As a runner, my last race is usually early November. Over the winter, I'll do some weighted squats and lunges, leg presses, and other "meat and potato" lower- body exercises that are somewhat counter-productive during racing season. It builds muscle in my legs in different ways than running, and I enjoy it!
  *Brave the cold: While I am definitely a warm weather person (I'm the one you see running in gloves in May!), exercising outdoors in the winter is invigorating, and burns up more calories (with equal effort) than working out in warm weather. Your body has to expend a lot of energy to stay warm against the elements.
  *Hit the weights: Weight-training keeps the bones and muscles strong, as well as the connecting ligaments and tendons. While you're usually not as drenched in sweat as after a good cardio session,
the "after-burn" is longer, so it's also a great way to keep your weight under control. Try to incorporate balance into your strength training, too, by using things like the bosu or stability ball, or by standing on one leg when executing an exercise like the lateral shoulder raise. Not as easy as you'd think!
*Save your calories: If you know Thanksgiving Dinner is going to be a killer, eat light (but don't starve yourself) the day before. Try to exercise on Black Friday morning, before the food has all settled in, and, again, eat lightly the rest of the day. Also, drink a lot of water. By Saturday, your weight should be back to normal.
*Beware the liquid calories: Americans now get 30% of their calories from liquids. Substitute water or club soda for sugared or diet sodas. When drinking alcohol, have one drink, then sip a full glass of club soda before having another. It will cut down your alcohol consumption considerably, saving you calories and the other potential hazards of over-doing it.
*Tips before you feast: Back to the water theme. If you drink three full glasses of water before a big meal, your stomach will have a sense of fullness that will cut down on your appetite considerably. Salad is also filled with water, nutrients, and fiber. A healthy salad before a big Holiday meal will save you calories, not add to it. The acidity and fiber in half a grapefruit will have a similar effect.
 *Remember your vegetables: A third of the plate should be covered by something green, nutritionist's always say. Also, opt for the vegetables in the pre-meal snacking. Healthy, and, again, the fibrous content will cut down on your cravings later.
  *Don't be a food "martyr": I love stuffing, and I also really enjoy pumpkin pie. I will have both with my Thanksgiving meal. Psychologists dealing with eating issues say that when someone sacrifices on something they really love and don't regularly eat, they will "feel deprived" and maybe drown their sorrows in a bag of Oreo's when no one is looking. Recognize what your one or two "must have" treats are and enjoy them!
  *Remember your math: It takes 3600 excess calories to put on a pound, and the same deficit to take one off. Try your best to retain equilibrium during this six-week period. Maybe you won't lose weight, but don't resign to yourself that you will put it on, either. Just keep exercising, and stay healthy to enjoy many more Holidays!   
     

Monday, November 20, 2017

Too Much Television

   Scrolling through my files, I stumbled across a column from 2015 by Drs. Oz and Roizen on the health-related problems of watching too much television.
    I much prefer the radio to television. It's easier to multi-task to, and, frankly, I usually find it more interesting. Sports, talk radio, or music, it can entertain me all day while I do other things like read, wax my car, work on the lawn, or exercise. My family makes fun of my "old man" Walkman, but it does the job - Rutgers football game,, WFAN, or rock' n' roll.
    If I want to modernize, I can go with the Sirius XM with a pair of ear phones, and my son, while landscaping all summer, educated himself with various podcasts all day.
    When I do have the television on, I'm usually reading the newspaper while a sporting event drones  in the background. The only time I pay attention is an hour of the news after dinner.
    Don't get me wrong, the television has it's purpose. When the kids were younger, we'd watch American Idol or Who Wants To Be a Millionaire as a family, and it has it's social bonding elements. The Super Bowl, for example, is a huge holiday, really, with the commonality of the television the gathering force. And who hasn't fallen asleep to football after the Thanksgiving meal?
   Still, the article points out that the average American  watches five to seven hours of television per day. That's sedentary time, by and large, which slows your metabolism and raises risks for heart disease, diabetes, and colon cancer, according to several studies cited. The risks increase more if your losing sleep to watch more television, as sleep deprivation has ties to both obesity and diabetes.
  Snacking in front of the TV makes it even worse. It's often salty or sugary snack food, empty calories, essentially. It's also hard to gauge exactly how much you ate picking out of a bowl. The doctors suggest some cut up vegetables in front of you - keep the chips out of sight.
   One suggestion they made for exercise adherence makes sense. If you love Meet the Press on Sunday mornings, make that a time you are at the gym on an elliptical, or at home on the treadmill, watching that show. If its' the local news every night between 5-6, even better! Shower up, and eat dinner at 6:30. You've revved up a healthy appetite, will desire nourishing food, and fed your brain by catching up on the world. And the endorphins released by your workout will make the news slightly less depressing - I hope!

Monday, November 13, 2017

Celebrating Senior Fitness

  When I was younger, I exercised to look good, improve athletic performance, and feel good. At 59, well, it's pretty much the same, although with a receding hairline abutting graying hair, the looking good is pretty much shot!
   Yes, priorities do change as we age, but the need to move does not. In fact, it's more important to exercise the older we get. Bone strength, balance, flexibility, and prevention of muscle loss are some real good reasons, as well as heart health - lowering blood pressure and sugar levels. Cognitively, too, exercise is perhaps the best defense against dementia!
   The National Council on Aging suggests seniors (over 65) should get least 2/12 hours of exercise a week of moderate exercise (walking, bicycling, aqua aerobics, etc), and do strength training twice a week. The strength training can be with free weights (great for balance and independent motion of the arms and legs), machines (easy to use, strength gains), resistance bands (continual tension on the muscles, portable), medicine balls (throwing, rotating and catching), or body weight (modified pull-ups, lunges, step-ups, squats, etc.).
     Stretching and balance work (sitting on stability balls, or standing on one leg), should definitely be included. Try to mimic movements you do in life (golf swings, sitting to standing), and mix up the exercises to limit over-use injuries and to keep things mentally and physically fresh.
   Water is great natural resistance, and swimming is certainly a tremendous overall workout for any age. The recumbent bike is excellent for the hips and hamstrings, and is protective of the lower back. Elliptical machines burn a similar amount of calories as running (standing, and using major muscle groups), and are easy on the joints. If you're an older runner and your body can still handle it, go for it! Running is hard to pick up in your later years, but it is possible.
    If you've been exercising all your life, it's hard to set new records as you age, but if you've been sedentary, you definitely can get the clock moving in the right direction and develop muscles and endurance you may have never had.
   The stronger you are as you age, the less dependent you are on others. You can still mow the lawn, rake the leaves, or shovel snow. It's not as much of a chore to lug around grocery bags. Improved balance means more confidence in walking on the snow or ice.
    When you exercise, you're also more conscious of your diet. You don't want to have greasy, bloating food before a workout, and you won't feel like it after! The eating naturally becomes healthier, and it's much easier to maintain a healthy weight.
    No, you may never look as good as you did in your 30's and 40's - I know I won't! But exercise should be a key component of your life - forever!
             

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Great Pumpkin 5-K

   Every Fall, Mountain Fitness is proud to sponsor the Great Pumpkin 5-K and 1-Mile Walk at Watchung Lake. The race is a benefit for the Watchung Hills Municipal Alliance, and is the type of grass-roots, small-town event that makes running so much a part of the community fabric.
    Typically, the race attracts about 100 people, most of whom know each other. "Team Mountain Fitness" is always a big chunk of the participants, and this year we had 20 runners and walkers. The Rutgers Prep cross-country team had a bunch of people running this year, including the men's and women's individual winners. The high school kids brought a good energy, and certainly made the race more competitive!
   Held on the first Saturday in November, we've been lucky with the weather, and this year was no different: high 40's, sunny, and little wind. No one, including me, could use the weather as an excuse for a bad performance.
     The course starts on Stirling Road, near Water & Wine Restaurant. It winds on the back side of Watchung Lake, before it turns right onto Mountain Boulevard. After a flat, quarter-mile stretch on Mountain, the runners turn right again, up and back down Sunlit Drive.
     Sunlit is a long, gradual hill, at it's steepest on the bottom. Whatever time you lose up the hill, you need to make up on the way down. Altogether, Sunlit is a 1.1 mile stretch.
     Turning left back onto Mountain, the race ends with a near full lap back around the lake, with the challenging hill on Stirling coming with about a half-mile to go. The final quarter is a slight downhill,
 and the finish line is just past Mobus playground. Fairly challenging, but scenic, with the colors of fall around, and flat when your oxygen is just about depleted at the end!
    "Team Mountain Fitness" had three age-group gold medalists, and five award winners, overall. My time (22:50), was the exact time I ran last year. It's amazing what two Aleve can do for 59-year old knees!
    The runners all get a nice long-sleeve T-shirt, and, of course, free pumpkins. It's the final race on my 2017 calendar, and a good culmination for the running year. If you haven't run it before, please keep the Great Pumpkin 5-K in mind for next year. It's road racing, at it's purest!
 

       
       

Friday, November 3, 2017

Balance and stabilization

  When I first started lifting weights over 40 years ago, I wanted to build up my biceps, and bench press an impressive amount of weight. Everything else was an after-thought. I don't think the biceps quite got there, and it took over 20 years of lifting to reach my eventual "max" of 235 lbs. on the bench.
    As I've gotten to late middle-age, I realize I will never exceed (or really, come close to)  a 235 lb. bench again, and my biceps are basically proportional on my 140 lb. frame.
    The key thing, for everyone, but older trainees especially, is balance. In other words, when you do a "curl," the biceps are the main mover, but you are also engaging your deltoids (shoulders), trapezius (neck and upper back), and lats (upper back).  Additionally, the triceps are involved in controlling the weight on the way down, or negative phase. Contrary to what I knew at 16, the triceps are actually  more contributory to the size of your arms than the biceps.
    So the key is to work opposite muscle groups with the same intensity. Dividing the body front and back, spend an equal amount of time on your chest and back; your quadriceps (thighs) and hamstrings; and biceps and triceps. Not only will it make you stronger, overall, but is probably the main ingredient to avoiding injury.
    The "core" (28 different muscles in the center of your body) is involved in every exercise to some degree, but much more so when you are standing when doing an exercise, and particularly engaged if you incorporate balance of some kind. That could mean standing on a Bosu ball or disks when doing your biceps curls, or lifting a leg or an arm when in a plank position.
     To balance your body with planks, also remember your side and reverse planks, which also can be done with one leg in the air!
     Bottom-line, there are many ways to incorporate balance into your workouts, and to make a "ho-hum" workout something fun and challenging.  I realize I will never look like the Charles Atlas figures in the comic books of my youth, but this hybrid style of lifting should keep in the gym for many years to come!