Fitness & Wellness

That great feeling you get after running is called a runner’s high. Running can be an intense workout and intense workouts can burn off the hormones of stress. With that in mind, it’s easy to see how running relieves stress. Why does that occur? It’s all about the fight or flight response. In early man, the fight or flight response prepared the body to run or fight. It was important when wild animals or attacking tribes might cause death. Today, stress isn’t as simple as fighting for your life. It comes in the form of traffic jams, crying babies and rude shoppers. While it might feel good, fighting or running in these situations aren’t necessarily appropriate.

Your hormones don’t know the difference.

You’re hardwired for the fight or flight response, so it doesn’t matter what type of stress you experience, the body prepares for both fleeing and fighting. There are several ways to deal with the situation. You can burn off those hormones with activities that simulate either fleeing or fighting or learn to control the level of stress. Sometimes, control is out of your control. So, the changes occur. Your heart starts pounding, your blood pressure rises, your pupils dilate and digestion slows. You may even have brain fog.

It’s about the flight in fight or flight.

When you’re running, you’re doing the very activity that burns off the hormones of stress. You’re taking flight, even if you aren’t running from a predator. You not only burn off the hormones of stress, you also increase the production of hormones that make you feel good. Not only that, the increased circulation sends more blood to your brain, clearing up brain fog in the process and making your entire body feel better.

Exercise of any type, including running, is a adjunct therapy for anxiety and depression.

Stress contributes to anxiety and depression. In fact, among the many causes of both anxiety and depression is stress. Many therapists are using exercise, whether it’s strength building or running, as an adjunct therapy. Several studies show that it works as well as drugs and has no side effects except a healthier body. In this case, it’s a combination of burning off stress hormones and increasing the happy hormones that cause a runner’s high.

• If you participate in vigorous physical exercise, like running, you’ll not only burn off stress, you’ll improve your body in other ways. It helps reduce blood pressure, which lowers the risk of stroke or heart attack.
• The changes caused by stress and high hormone levels remain if you don’t burn off the hormones, which can cause serious conditions. One hormone, cortisol is linked to increased belly fat.
• Running, like any strenuous exercise, has an effect on your microbiome. It can increase the beneficial microbes in the body. Beneficial microbes help control mood and can improve your mood dramatically.
• No matter what type of strenuous activity you do, it improves the overall strength and endurance of the body. That can make a marked improvement in your posture and make you look more confident. The more confident you look, the more confident you’ll feel. People will even treat you differently.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness

One topic that’s not the focus of conversation at parties or when good friends get together in Totowa, New Jersey, is fiber. Let’s face it, fiber just isn’t that exciting. However, fiber is extremely important when it comes to your diet, especially for weight loss and colon health. Most fruits, vegetables and whole grains are high in fiber, so it’s easy to increase it in your diet, just add a few more fruits and veggies or opt for whole grains.

Not all fiber is the same.

There are two types of fiber and you need both. One type of fiber is soluble fiber and the other is insoluble. Soluble fiber becomes a gel as it absorbs water. It provides several things for the body. Soluble fiber makes you feel fuller longer, since it slows digestion. It helps keep your stool softer so you can pass it easier and also feeds the friendly microbes in the digestive system. It also helps slow the absorption of sugar in the intestines, so you don’t have spikes. Insoluble fiber adds bulk to stools, which also makes them easier to pass. It also increases the speed that food travels through the colon.

Identifying foods high in fiber is easy.

Just go to the produce section and you’ll find most of the foods high in fiber. Also, look at whole grains and seeds, such as flax seeds and psyllium husks. Many of the sources of insoluble fiber, like apples (when you eat the peel) and beans, are also good sources of soluble fiber. Top selections for soluble fiber include whole grains, beans, apples, broccoli and sweet potatoes. Top insoluble sources are beans, greens, celery, berries, oat bran. Always eat the whole fruit and vegetable and not just drink the juice, since it has no fiber. While juicing may provide a concentrated form of nutrients, most of the fiber is removed. Opt for a smoothie from the blender.

Increasing fiber in your diet also increases the nutrients you get.

There’s a lot of reasons you’ll boost your nutrition when you eat foods that naturally contain fiber. The main reason is that foods naturally high in fiber tend to be high in other important nutrients. It regulates the absorption of sugar that can reduce the number of friendly bacteria and feeds the beneficial microbes that break down the food to nutrients the body can use. Those same microbes also create enzymes that affect both your immune system and emotional health.

• Fiber fills you up, not just because it provides bulk and slows digestion, but also because it increases the satiety hormone and decreases the hunger hormone, which is the opposite of what sugar does.
• You’re better off getting fiber from fruits, vegetables and whole grains than from supplements. It’s easier to get too much fiber from supplements. Increasing your fiber too fast has negative consequences. It can cause both constipation and diarrhea, bloating mineral deficits and GERD.
• Don’t forget to increase your water intake if you’re increasing fiber, particularly if you’re not increasing it via fruits and vegetables. Soluble fiber requires water.
• As you age, you need less fiber, but it’s not a big difference. For women under 50, the amount required daily is 25 grams, but over 50 it’s 21 grams. Men under 50 require 8 fewer grams of fiber than those over 50.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness

A kettlebell is basically a steel ball with a handle. They originally were called pood and were a specific weight. They were used in the Russian marketplace to measure grain and other consumables. As time went on, locals had contests at festivals to see who could lift the most weight or the heaviest pood. Later it was discovered how effective they were at building muscle and strength, not just in the upper body, but total body strength. That’s when kettlebells were used in military training in Russia. Later they were used to train Olympians and then became popular throughout the world.

Kettlebells make a workout more intense.

You’ll get more benefits from a kettlebell workout in less time. Not only does it build strength in all muscles, particularly the core muscles, it improves endurance, balance and flexibility. That’s because the center of gravity is constantly changing with kettlebells. While dumbbells and barbells have their center of gravity is in the middle, the center of gravity in kettlebells is just about six to eight inches beyond your grip, so it’s always changing. It makes it more like doing everyday activities and works core muscles to improve balance.

You’ll work more muscles with kettlebells.

An easy, beginners move, with kettlebells can work as many as 600 muscles by the time you complete it. That’s due to its off center nature. Because it’s off center, you use the stabilizer muscles in your back and abdomen to help balance your body. That’s one reason it burns more calories than dumbbells and burn about 15 to 20 calories every minute you workout.

You know how it improves strength and balance and it also boosts endurance and flexibility.

A kettlebell workout is a good cardio-vascular exercise. It gets your heart pumping fast and that improves your entire cardio-vascular system. It’s the complete workout, since it also improves flexibility. That swinging motion increases the range of motion. It also builds muscles during both the shortening and lengthening process of swinging, giving you results faster.

• One benefit of using kettlebells for cardio, compared to other types of cardio like running, is that it’s low impact. It doesn’t have the same effect on your joints, since your feet never leave the floor and there’s no jarring movement.
• Kettlebell workouts build functional fitness and a great alternative to regular workouts. They replicate movements people do daily, which is often off center movements. They can help prevent injury.
• Regular strength building workouts add to strength building workouts that tend to focus on larger joints. Kettlebells work smaller muscle groups that keep joints aligned to build strength and protect them from injury.
• Kettlebell workouts are fun and can be done almost any place. When a workout is fun to do, you’ll be more apt do stick with a program. For strength building, use heavier kettlebells, but for flexibility use lighter ones.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness

Having fun and enjoying an active lifestyle can bring to people together to create memories that last a lifetime. Many people in Totowa, New Jersey, enjoy the time they spend together in pursuit of an active lifestyle. For those that don’t share the same interest in a specific sport, finding a way to exercise as a couple is important, but not that challenging. There are many reasons working out together is beneficial. Lots of those reasons are the same as the ones that make workout buddies a good idea.

If you’re starting a workout program with a spouse, both of you have to make a commitment.

If just one person in the couple is dedicated to getting fit and the other couldn’t care less, but just wants to keep peace, it will be far harder to stick with the program. Make sure you’re both committed before you start. It takes being really honest with each other, but extremely important. One thing that makes couple workouts more attractive is that it improves their sex life and overall relationship. Create a plan and schedule the workout at the same time each day. Make sure it includes strength, flexibility, balance and endurance training.

When your spouse is your workout buddy there are benefits, but also drawbacks.

I don’t know why it is, but sometimes people fail to meet commitments with a spouse that they’d meet with other people. Probably because they feel more secure in the relationship. Set the ground rules. Maybe you won’t workout together every day and make alternate days at the gym your date night. Find ways to workout together whether it’s as simple as a walk, shooting hoops or doing squats or bodyweight exercises during commercials when watching TV.

Doing couple exercises can be more fun and more challenging.

Change up squats to make them more fun. Start back to back-to-back in standing position with arms intertwined. Then both of you do a squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Alternate with ones that start back-to-back with arms folded in front. Do a couples plank, facing each other. It’s a regular plank, but in the middle, each raises one hand and you do a high five, then back to starting position. Modifying old favorites can make them fun again.

If you aren’t sure where to start on your workout program, we’ll be glad to help. Since you’ll each have different goals and fitness levels, working with a professional is important. Remember men tend to lose weight and build muscle faster, so we help keep it realistic.

Having a spouse as a workout partner provides benefits, like emotional support and even some competition.

There are definitely benefits to having a spouse as a workout partner, like having a spotter or cheerleader for motivation.

If you want a real challenge that’s lots of fun, consider kettlebell training. There are other things you can do with a spouse, like wheelbarrow exercises. Learn new ways to get fit with us and practice at home.

Is eating after 8pm bad for you? Does it affect your digestion and make you gain weight easier? Do you need those bedtime calories to sleep soundly and get to sleep quicker? That’s a conundrum that’s plagued humanity for the last few decades. Not only does what you eat before bedtime make a difference, how much you eat is also important. There are also questions about physical problems eating too late can cause, like acid reflux.

Is there a link between nighttime eating and gaining weight?

Some studies say there may be, while other studies show the opposite. The truth is, a calorie is a calorie, no matter when you eat it. However, consuming food within a certain window of time, automatically limits your intake of food. If you cut out food after a certain hour, you’re automatically cutting out calories from your diet, most of which come from foods that are ready to eat, like pastry and junk food. So, eating late can cause an increase in calories because it allows you to eat more food. That will cause weight gain.

Why would you eat at night?

Man was wired for survival long before refrigeration or grocery stores. If you’re hungry, that original instinct triggers your brain to stay up and look for food. Our lifestyle has evolved, but the same instincts remain. If you have problems with insomnia on an empty stomach, keep foods high in tryptophan available for a late night snack. It’s an amino acid that helps create niacin, which is necessary to make serotonin that can help you sleep. Foods that are high in tryptophan include eggs, cheese, chicken, milk, soy and turkey.

Choose your late night snack wisely and include it in your overall diet.

Just like foods with tryptophan, foods that contain melatonin can be beneficial for sleep. Melatonin improves the circadian rhythm and that can help treat insomnia and improve sleep disorders. Is jet lag a problem? Blame it on messing with your circadian rhythm. Almonds are one source of melatonin. Pistachios, eggs, milk, goji berries and fish are also good sources. Increasing your vitamin D can also help, especially when it’s combined with omega-3 fatty acids because it boosts serotonin production. Tuna, salmon and other fatty fish provide both.

• Consuming food with magnesium can also help improve the quality of sleep. It lowers stress hormone levels. Almonds contain magnesium, so one ounce at bedtime may be beneficial.
• If you eat at night, make sure you eat light with foods that are easily digested. Your body needs activity to digest food, especially a big meal. Avoid fatty food, like fries or chips. Saturated fat affects the quality of sleep, interrupting NREM sleep.
• Be prepared if you know you’ll be hungry before bed. Make a parfait in a small mason jar with a lid containing Greek yogurt, walnuts and black cherries. Store it in the refrigerator. Have a fruit bowl ready that has cherries and kiwi—for the serotonin—and bananas for the magnesium.
• Focus on carbs before bed. They’re easier to digest and help you sleep better according to one study. Again, this may relate back to earlier instincts that allowed man to relax when his belly was full.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness NJ