How do I impact my health in simple actions?
Read Below
Courtesy wellness.utah.edu
Hey Everyone
Thanks for reading the Second Installment of this blog post on how to impact your health in areas you may not even know are influencing your health.
If you didn't read the first part, check that one out and come back to this one so you can get the full picture.
Today we are going to cover the final 3 Areas to influence your health and well being. We will start of with strength training, then move to sleep, and finally social support.
Let's Start!
StrengthTraining
In the world of strength training, there are so many many many programs out there. Which one is best for you? Well, if you are just starting out, let's keep it really simple.
In most strength training programs, the simplest way to have you start influencing change on your body is sticking with the four major planes of movement in the body.
These are Push, Pull, Squat, Rotate.
PUSH-
Whether it is pushing a door shut, or pushing a kid in a wheel barrel, pushing is a common action of daily living. Some of the most common exercises to train push are-
Push Ups
Step 1. Either with knees lifted or knees down, slightly rotate the hands out. Begin in a plank position, with hands pressing into the floor and legs engaged. Feel the spine in a nice neutral line and tailbone drawing slightly towards your heels.
Step 2. Take a breath in and pause . Lower to a level that YOU FEEL YOU CAN CONTROL. That can be half an inch, that can be all the way down.
Step 3. Use a strong exhale through the mouth to help bring the body back up.
Repeat this Action 8-10 times. for 3 rounds At the beginning that may seem to be too many, so stick to what you feel you can comfortably do and still be challenged by.
Bench Press
Step 1- Grab a weight in the beginning that is fairly comfortable to lift. Overtime, with appropriate form, you may want to lift heavier. For now, let's just get the form correct.
Step 2. Lying down on the bench with the dumbbells resting at the bottom position, use an exhale to press your arms straight.
Step 3. Inhale and being to lower the weight UNTIL YOUR ARMS REACH 90 DEGREES. Some schools of thought say go lower, but for now, focus on form that you can control with ease and confidence.
Step 4. Pause for a second. Use your exhale to straight the arms back up.
Repeat 10-12 Repetitions of this exercises for 3 rounds.
Barbell Push Ups (Variation if Floor Push Ups is too much on the wrists/ Not as comfortable to execute)
This is the exact same form of a push up on the floor, but you are de loading (taking stress off) the joints and body, making it easier to execute safe and effective form.
In this variation, perform 10-12 Repetitions for 3 rounds
PULL
Pulling exercises happen everywhere from reaching for a towel, to pulling up your grocery bags, to pulling a car door open. Here are three different exercises to help build strength around this.
Lat Pull Down
Step 1. Set the weight parameters on the bar fairly on the lower side. Once again we are doing this to build proper form. I am not concerned about the weight number, purely form in the beginning and always :)
Step 2. Begin seated facing towards the cable machine. Grabbing at the wider part of the handles, reach up and grab the bar. If you are shorter, start by grabbing the bar before you sit.
Step 3. Take a full breath in. As you exhale, pull from the back and bring the bar towards the center of the chest.
Step 4. Slowly, with control, bring the bar back to its fully-straightened-arm starting position.
Repeat this Exercises 10-15 times for 3 rounds
Dumbbell Row
Step 1. Once again, start with a comfortable weight.
Step 2. Begin by placing one knee and one hand on the bench.
Step 3. While maintaining a neutral and stable spine, take the weighted arm and pull in towards your side. Engage in the back as you do this movement.
Step 4. With Control, lower back down to the starting position.
Repeat 8-12 repetitions on each side. Do this for 3 rounds.
Back Extension (on the floor)
**If you are pregnant or think you are pregnant, please refrain from this exercise. Consult a physician or personal trainer for appropriate variations.
Step 1. Lie down face side down. Begin with hands underneath your shoulders in a comfortable arm position.
Step 2. Take a breath in. As you do so, begin to engage from the UPPER BACK to lift the arms, shoulders, head, and neck. Keep a NEUTRAL neck as you do so.
Step 3. With an exhale, lower back down.
10-12 Repetitions of this exercise for 3 rounds.
Squatting/ Lunging
Whether it is going to pick your kid up, walking up the stairs, or going for something on the floor, squatting is an ESSENTIAL exercise to daily living. Here are three variations to practice.
Bodyweight Squats
Step 1. Begin with your hands behind your head at your hips.
Step 2. Stand with feet slightly wider than hip width apart. Slightly turn the toes out.
Step 3. As you begin to bend in the knees, drive through your heels. Maintain as much of a neutral and strong spine as you can. Imagine sitting back into a chair.
*** For taller folks like myself, your chest will go a little more forward than most. Simple structural difference in our bodies.
Step 4. Drive through your legs to come back up to stand.
Repeat 10-15 repetitions for 3 rounds.
Reverse Lunge
Step 1. With your bodyweight or a light weight, stand in a neutral stance. Toes Forward and hips underneath you.
Step 2. Taking a step back, maintain an upright chest and lengthened arms , bend both knees to approximately 90 degrees. Make sure you step back with feet HIP width apart, not in a single line.
Step 3. Use your exhale to step back to starting position.
Repeat 10-12 lunges each side for 3 rounds.
Goblet Squats
Step 1. Using either a dumbbell or a kettlebell, start standing in neutral with the weight close to your chest.
Step 2. While maintaining the weight close to you, lower into a squat. Toes are slightly turned out, hips shifting slightly back, and chest maintaining as much of a neutral position as it can.
Step 3. Use your legs to drive yourself back to stand.
Repeat 10-12 times for 3 rounds.
Rotate
This one is the one that most people forget about. Rotating to pick up your coffee, turn around to see who is talking, or reaching across to grab something from the fridge; all rotation actions require training and proper function to them. Here are three exercises to help build your strength.
WINDMILL PLANKS
Step 1. While maintaining a blank position, Let both heels rock to one side.
Step 2. Lift the top arm towards the ceiling.
Step 3.Return to starting position slowly and with control.
Repeat 4-6 times each side for 3 rounds.
Medicine Ball Chops
Step 1. Begin with ball up towards and above a shoulder.
Step 2. With spinal and abdominal control, rotate the ball towards the opposing knee/shin/foot.
Step 3. Repeat back to starting position
Repeat this exercises 10-12 times each side for 3 rounds.
Rotation with Band/Cable
Step 1. Stand with straight arms at a distance where there is no slack in the band/cable.
Step 2. Maintaining a strong and neutral spine, use your TRUNK (not your arms) to rotate the cable/band to bring it across the body. Attempt to keep the feet and knees stable.
Step 3. With Control, return the body back to starting position.
Repeat 10-12 times each side for 3 rounds of exercises.
WHEW!
That is a lot of exercises, but start to explore. Take a few of them from each group and creating a routine. Example
2 Push Exercises+ 1 Pull Exercise+2 Squat Exercises+2 Rotation Exercises
Practicing this routing for 4-6 weeks and then switching them up!
If it takes you longer than an hour, cut down an exercises and don't over do it.
Next area... Sleep
SLEEP
We all have heard the saying, "I slept like a baby." That statement, for some, can feel like a long shot. So why is sleep so important? More importantly, what can you do to help impact your sleep?
I wanted to write a simple blog post on this today as many have been asking about sleep and struggle with it.
According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute,
"Sleep plays an important role in your physical health. For example, sleep is involved in healing and repair of your heart and blood vessels. Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.
Sleep deficiency also increases the risk of obesity. For example, one study of teenagers showed that with each hour of sleep lost, the odds of becoming obese went up. Sleep deficiency increases the risk of obesity in other age groups as well.
Sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin). When you don't get enough sleep, your level of ghrelin goes up and your level of leptin goes down. This makes you feel hungrier than when you're well-rested."
Long story short, Sleep impacts a lot. So how do we impact this?
Here are three simple things you can do.
1. Get the room as dark as possible.
Research has shown if you can limit light intake you have a fighting chance at getting more restful sleep. Light in the room influences certain chemical pathways in your body that will keep your body in an alert state, rather than getting it into a sleepier state as needed for rest.
2..Limit Cell Phone Usage 1-2 hours before bed.
Most days, including myself in this one, it is so easy to get hooked into social media until we are minutes before bed. Studies have shown how blue light (the typical light from a phone) has influence over our sleep patterns and our alert state. If you have late night work to do, try turning you Night Mode switch on on your phone. If you are on a computer, there is a great app called Flux you can use. It is a simple application that lets you determine how dark you want the screen to still get work done.
Courtesy Lizzy Hall on @YouTube
3.Using yoga nidra.
As a yoga teacher and yoga practitioner, this one is a little known gem that is finally getting some notice. Some say that half an hour of yoga nidra is equal to hour of true rem sleep. Yoga nidra is a type of practice that allows you to float between an "alert" state and a "sleep" state. It is usually instructed via an audio guide, like the one above. Some will guide you simply through the body, while others will sometimes guide you through visualization practices as well.
Finally, we will look at our our social group can influence your health.
Someone said that you are the sum of the five people you are closest to. So how do we have have those five people DRIVE your success rather than DRAIN it?
According to the NIH (National Institute of Health) :
"Social support is exceptionally important for maintaining good physical and mental health. Overall, it appears that positive social support of high quality can enhance resilience to stress, help protect against developing trauma-related psychopathology, decrease the functional consequences of trauma-induced disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and reduce medical morbidity and mortality.1"
With its vast implications, here are some ways to influence your health via your community.
Find a meet up group.
Meetup.com does a great job of offering multiple groups of a variety of interests to come together in your area. Google them and see what you can create or find on your own!
Find a facebook/instagram social support group
With the world of online and internet groups becoming so much easier to join, finding a Facebook group or instagram page to follow can help assist you. It truly amazes me when I have questions and need answers how many others have had the same questions and used Facebook or Instagram to get these questions answered.
CREATE one!
I know this may seem scary, but I can assure you there are people who are struggling in similar areas of your life you want to succeed in. Check your local coffee shop and see if you can put a poster up about your group. Reach out on Facebook and see if anyone else has interest. Better yet, start the inquiry yourself and see what happens!
I hope this post has helped you in some way shape or form.
It truly is exciting for me as a coach and trainer to see people succeed by seeing that they CAN do it, one habit at a time.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me and looking forward to hearing from you !