My Daily Wellness Tip

Around The Pain Series - Elbows

Some people are more prone than others to getting sore elbows. Usually someone with a small bone structure that's starting to get very strong will go through this at some point. The bicep flexes the elbow and the tricep extends the elbow. But most of the time it has more to do with the rotation of the wrist from pronation to supination and the restriction imposed by certain exercises.

A sore elbow can take weeks to fix. I have witnessed acupuncture to be very effective for elbows. But the point is you need to fix it. Giving it total rest for a week may do it some good but most of the time we don't listen to that advice anyways so here are a few modifications you can make.

Barbell curls forces a full supination on the wrist and can cause irritation. Switch to using dumbbells and alternate each arm so you have better control to not aggravate the injury further. turn your wrist in a way that you don't feel any pain.

Chin ups act in a same way that at the bottom of the motion it puts a lot of strain on the elbow by over supinating. Switch to a row machine with free moving handles (if you have one) if not I would use rings or TRX straps so you can freely move your wrist throughout the motion.

Tricep extensions done to the forehead (skull crusher) or lower (french press) causes a lot of pressure on the elbow. I found out the hard way when I used to perform them to the forehead all the time and then the pain started and would not go away. Now I only do them once every 2 months that low. If you want to save your elbows from injury it's better that you bring the bar above the head that way some of the weight will be distributed towards the shoulder and will allow for a better elbow angle.

Overdoing the sets on arms is the second reason people get elbow pain.One day you work your back with pull ups (which involves elbow flexion), then a day for shoulders with upright rows (which involves elbow flexion) and another day for direct bicep work. You can see that the elbow at this point will have been worked a lot.

This depends on how you structure your weekly training but I would not do no more than 9 sets of direct bicep of tricep work in 1 workout. Anything more will only start to cause irritation and the muscle has been stimulated enough at that point.

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Losing The Belly

I'm not talking about a little belly, I'm talking about something else.

Metabolic Syndrome is a problem of inflammation and high amounts of visceral fat. Everyone has seen this condition before, it's someone that has a big belly and doesn't seem to hold a large amount of fat anywhere else. What troubles me is that if these people don't already have diabetes, heart disease or cancer it's sadly a matter of time before they do, unless they start to change their lifestyle now.

After listening to an audio recording of Mark Houston from the Crayhon Research present at the Boulderfest conference about metabolic syndrome I felt obligated to take his list of supplement recommendations for metabolic syndrome and give you (maybe to give to someone you know that has this) the foods that match the supplements he recommends. When I say lifestyle change it goes beyond just food but this would be a huge step forward.

Food	Why	How much a day
Cinnamon	great sweetener, antioxidant, lowers LDL	You choose
1 glass of red wine only (or else reverse effect)	Antioxidant	1 glass only!!
Almonds, almond milk	Vit E, arginine, magnesium, calcium	20 almonds or 1 cup of almond milk
Flax meal	ALA	1 tbls
Raw onions	Chromium	¼ cup
Garlic	Antioxidant	You choose
Green tea	ECGC	3 cups

 

Spinach	Magnesium, calcium	You choose
Artichoke	Magnesium	2 medium artichokes
All bran buds	Vit b6, manganese, solube fiber	½ a cup
Sun flower seeds	Pantothenic acid	1 tbls
Beef	Carnitine, carnosine, taurine, zinc, b vitamins	3 oz
Herring	CoQ10	3 oz
Chicken	Niacin	6 oz
green peppers	Vitamin c	3 green peppers

 

Brazil nuts	Selenium	5 nuts
Swiss chard	Biotin	You choose
Brussels sprouts	Potassium	5
Cod or salmon	GLA, omega 3	1 fillet
Olive oil	Vit E	1tbls
Lemon	Inositol	Juice from ½ a lemon
Tomatoes	Lycopene (must be taken with fat)	1 tomato
Celery	Insolube fiber	You choose

 

This is a must to change the diet!

Low carb/Low fruit

High vegetables

High fiber

Moderate protein

Moderate fat

No caffeine

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How To Live Past 100

Family and Friends – Isolation has been shown to shave years off your life. It’s important to have good family and friends around you. Studies show that people become like one another as they spend time together. So surround yourself with people who are committed to you and who support your healthy choices. If they take care of their health, it will influence you to take care of your health. Join groups and get social.

Be active every day - From walking to biking to going to lifting weights, make sure every day you do some form of activity. It doesn’t need to be hard, just get moving. We used to spend 8 hours a day on our feet now we spend 8 hours a day on our chair.

Have a purpose – Why do you get up in the morning? What special gift do you possess? What are you passionate about? What do you care about? What are your values? These are all questions that clear the clutter in figuring out what your purpose is. There’s a feeling of freedom that comes with knowing your purpose and living it every day.

Eat till your 80% full – Simply said: We eat way too many calories. Studies show that people that eat less calories of high nutritional content live longer. A good trick is to use smaller plates and focus on quality of food as opposed to quantity.

Focus on greens – Greens accomplish those two things I mentioned above. They have low calories and are very rich in nutrients like phytochemicals that can’t be found anywhere else. If your goal is to live past 100, then I would suggest 60% of your plate be filled with greens.

Antioxidants – Wine, sake, dark chocolate and coffee sounds good right? Well studies have shown that having high amounts of antioxidants in your diet will increase life expectancy. The problem is that you must consume the above in moderation because of the other stuff that comes along with it (like alcohol). Not many people know this but spices like; cinnamon, turmeric and oregano are at the top of the ORAC rating making them the best source of antioxidants. So adding spices to your meals will not only add taste but will help keep you looking and feeling young.

Chill out - Reducing stress is so important. Try reducing noise in the home by turning off the television or radio. Aim to arrive to appointments 15 minutes early—it helps cut anxiety and creates a cushion for traffic and parking time. And start meditation or deep breathing. Practice at least 10 minutes a day. Remember that the impacts of stress all depend on your perception of it so try to adopt a positive mindset, don’t focus on the negative. Life is too short!

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How Goosebumps Work

Being cold creates goosebumps which makes the hair on your arm stand straight up. When the gust of wind hits your skin, your body quickly draws blood away from the skin and extremities and rushes towards internal organs as a survival strategy. This process triggers tiny muscles to tighten the skin and stand the hair straight up in order to trap heat and defend itself against the cold. 

This is just another example of how the body is always looking for homeostasis and how one outside influence (like a cold breeze) can trigger different bodily systems to change and react as a defense mechanism.

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www.healthycanadians.gc.ca

This is a new website from the Government of Canada where you can find information on food safety, food recalls, and other healthy living tips.

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Embracing the Journey

 

By Personal Trainer Alana Thomson

In my last article, I spoke about finding the motivation behind your goal setting. This month, I would like to take some time to talk about embracing the journey to getting to your goals. Sometimes when we are so focused on the goal we lose sight of why we are doing it. Yes the goal might be to lose 10lbs, 50lbs, fit into a new dress or an old suit, but the true goal is to create healthy habits that can translate to our daily lives. You aren't on a diet, you are on the road to a healthy maintainable lifestyle. If we are so focused on the goals, that when we hit the goal we may, over a short or long period of time, slide back to our old unhealthy habits.

Last May I competed in a fitness competition because, even though I was fit, I never got to a level of fitness that I knew I could. I too needed to set a goal and work towards it. I took each day as it came and in the end, I fell in love with the journey. I'll be honest, I was a little overwhelmed at first; I felt that it was such a long road. 12 weeks of a nutrition plan, no alcohol no cheats and more cardio than I was use to. However, if for 3 months preparing for the competition, I was only focused on the day of the event, I would have surely fell back into some of the bad habits I had before, and yes even trainers have the odd bad habit too! I learned along the way areas where I needed to improve my lifestyle.

My point is this, embrace the journey to get to getting to your goals and it won't be nearly as hard to maintain your healthy lifestyle once you have achieved those goals!

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