Watch Your Back !

Body Weight & Your Back

Back pain is often caused by excessive body fat around your waist.  Without the support of strong abdominal muscles, this extra weight will gradually cause a forward pelvic tilt, which causes pain and tension in the lower back.

To help improve your condition, strengthen you abdominal muscles regularly.  Again, exercise within your limits it takes dedication and perseverance.   Stretch your lower back muscles, buttocks, and hip flexors.  You can ask a Hamilton Personal Trainer which stretches are best for you.   By strengthening the abdominal area and stretching the hip and back areas, you can gradually correct the forward pelvic tilt which causes many back problems.  Since excess abdominal fat may put undue strain on the lower back, work to gradually decrease your body fat through regular cardiovascular exercise and a healthier diet.  Remember, if you are overweight and you start to walk one extra mile every day without stopping, while maintaining your current caloric intake, you should lose about 4.5 kilograms in one year.

Exercising for a stronger back.  Before beginning any rehabilitation program, consult your doctor or Hamilton Personal Trainer for their recommendations.  For people who already suffer from lower back problems some exercises have been shown to be successful in treating the condition.

Relaxation techniques to relieve stress and muscle tightness.  The pelvic tilt, to stretch your lower back muscles and strengthen your abdominals.  To perform a pelvic tilt, lie on the floor with your knees bent.  Rotate your pelvis by flattening the small of your back into the floor, and hold this position for 10 to 30 seconds.  Relax and repeat.  Remember not to hold your breath!  Regular physical activity.  The vertical load experienced in weight bearing exercise such as walking and lifting weights pushes fluid into the disks which helps to nourish them.  Weak abdominal, buttock and thigh muscles deprive your back of essential support.  Your back’s balancing act is made possible by these muscles, as well as those of the hip, knee, and ankle joints, and of course, the back muscles themselves.  Together, these muscles balance your back’s natural curves and provide support.  When lifting weights, take extra care to use correct technique and to keep your spine in proper  alignment: use head rest pads and keep your back against the back rests.  Concentrate on tightening your abdominal muscles during any lift, as this maintains the correct pelvic tilt position, which will support your back.  Cardiovascular or aerobic exercise, in addition to any specific back exercises, is also critical in maintaining a healthy back.  Brisk walking, stair climbing and swimming are recommended activities for the back.

Most of these exercises can be performed anywhere,  at any time.  Depending on your doctor or Hamilton Personal Trainer’s recommendations, you should include back exercises as part of your exercise program at least 3 times per week.

Psychological Facts For Women

There is clear evidence that physical exercise with a Hamilton Personal Trainer provides individuals with a more positive self image and therefore results in improvements in mental health.

Level of physical activity is shown to be positively related to general well-being lower levels of anxiety and depression, and positive moods.  The relationship is particularly strong for women and persons 40 years of age and over.   Physical activity can have a effect on the personality of middle aged women.  Women that exercise regularly have stronger feelings of well being, and appear to be less depressed during menopause.

For older women, regular physical activity can prevent the onset of old age; the age at which adults are not capable of performing desired exercises.  If a woman remains physically active, she will enjoy the relative absence of aches and pains.  She will be able to continue walking up and down stairs, and will remain somewhat independent.   Older women who participate in sufficiently intense levels of physical activity experience significant physical benefits, including increased aerobic capacity, greater flexibility, reduced blood pressure and recovery time, and a lower incidence of osteoporosis.

Physical activity can prevent many health disorders for women.  Obesity is related to under- activity and overeating, both of which predispose women to heart disease risk, hypertension, adult-onset diabetes, gall bladder disease and possibly cancer.  In addition, research indicates that osteoporosis is associated with a sedentary lifestyle.  It is important for all women to be provided with opportunities to be physically active.    Weight bearing exercise of at least 30 minutes three times a week contributes to the prevention of osteoporosis in menopausal women.

There is evidence that exercise can effectively prevent and treat osteopo0rosis by cotributing to the building of maximum bone mass befor the age of 35, and maintaining bone mass during the rest of the life cycle.  (Lesnkyj, Helen (1991),  Winebm Sport and Physical Activity.  Fitness and Amateur Sport, Ottawa.  Government of  Canada.  Page 106.)   An exercise program for menopausal women that includes both aroeobic training and resistance training may prevent or relieve problems such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, muscle weakness, osteoproosis, and depression.  Increases in bone mineral content have been found at lumbar vertebral and distal radial sties in women who participate in exercise programs.

Facts About Fat

* Most North Americans eat about 35% more fat than is considered healthy.

* Dietary fat yields more than twice the calories per gram (approximately 9 kcal/g) as that yielded by carbohydrates or protein (approximately 4 kcal/g each).

*Research has linked high dietary fat intake with heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity, gall bladder disease, diabetes, liver disease, cancer of the colon and breast cancer in women.

* Reducing saturated fat intake (from animal products) can help reduce blood cholesterol levels.

* A healthy percentage body fat should be about 17 – 22% in men and 19 -24% in women.  These percentages usually increase with advancing age due to an increased sedentary lifestyle.

* The body’s fat stores are used as fuel for moderate, prolonged exercise.  Thus continuous cardiovascular exercise of greater than 12 minutes duration is the best way to reduce fat stores in the body.

Strategies For Reducing Dietary Fat

*When cooking: boil, bake, steam or microwave instead of frying.

* Try to eliminate all deep fried foods.

* Choose the low fat varieties of mayonnaise, salad dressing and gravy.

*Replace sour cream with yougurt.

* Choose low fat (skim or 1%) dairy products, and add milk to coffee rather than cream.

* Mozzarella is by far the least fattening form of cheese because it is made from skim milk.

*Avoid “fast foods”, which are high in fat and salt and low in fibre.

* Choose lean cuts of meat, cut off visible fat  (including poultry skin), and drain off any fat that cooks out of the meat.

TO MAINTAIN PROPER WEIGHT CONTROL AND OPDTIMAL BODY FAT LEVELS, A LIFETIME COMMITMENT TO PROPER EATING HABITS AND REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS REQUIRED!!