August 2015 FITNESS AND WELLNESS TOPICS

Group Exercise Schedules

Training for Strong Bones

Fitness Contact Information

Strong Hips Relieve Knee Pain

Importance of Breathing During Exercise

Fat Torching Kettlebell Moves

A new analysis further links weakness in the hips to injury.

Struggling with knee pain? For relief, consider aiming higher. Rehab routines that incorporate the

hip—as opposed to the knee alone—appear to work better for combating runner’s knee, according to a

new research review published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. British and Australian

scientists analyzed 14 previous studies of people with patellofemoral pain, the official name for the ache

in the front of the knee that strikes many runners. Participants whose programs included moves to build

strength, endurance, and activation in the muscles around the hip had less knee pain and improved joint

function when compared with those whose therapy focused on the quadriceps muscles alone.

What’s more, programs that strengthened hip and glute muscles with heavy weights—using a load of at

least 70 percent of what a person could lift for just one rep—showed promise after a year follow-up.

Given how often runner’s knee returns, incorporating these types of exercises could be key to staying

pain-free for the long term, according to lead study author Dylan Morrissey, Ph.D., of the Queen Mary

University of London.

Hip-focused rehab routines likely work by altering movement patterns and shifting the load of running

back onto the appropriate muscle groups, Morrissey said. “For example, if rehabilitation helps stop a

female runner’s knee from drifting in and keeps it pointing forward while her gluteal muscles do more

work, then the knee will need to cope with less load in a better position,” he told Runner’s World

Newswire in an email. “These changes seem to be associated with reduced pain and improved function.”

Not every runner will benefit from the same approach, so if you’re coping with chronic knee pain,

Morrissey advises seeking treatment from a physical therapist or other sports-medicine professional.

Source: Runner’s World: Cindy Kuzma Friday, July 24, 2015

Page 2

Did you know that men account for approximately 40% of the 9 million new osteoporotic

fractures that occur annually? The lifetime fracture risk in men aged ≥ 60 years is

estimated to be as high as 25%. Compared with women, men have a significantly greater

risk for complications after a hip fracture, including increased morbidity, mortality, loss

of independence, and rate of institutionalization. Despite this fact, treatment rates are

much lower in males than females. Adult men typically lose bone density at a rate of 0.4 to

1.5 percent per year.

The study itself compares different types of exercise (strength training and jump training)

for their effects on bone density in men. I first came across Hinton’s research when I was

researching my book a few years ago, and realizing that the traditional wisdom on this

topic—i.e. that strong bones are the result of weight-bearing exercise—wasn’t the full

picture. It turns out that two other key factors make a big difference: jarring impacts, and

resistance training that applies loads to the specific areas where bone density is most

vulnerable, like the hips and spine.

Page 3

TRAINING FOR STRONG BONES

The interactions between these effects are interesting. Most studies find that strength-

trained athletes have greater bone density than resistance-trained athletes. But runners

also get repeated jarring impacts from each step when they run. As a result, Hinton found

that runners have pretty much the same bone density—relative to their body size—as

strength-trained athletes. Cyclists, on the

other hand, get neither jarring impacts nor

strength training, so they tend to have lower

bone density.

Anyway, the basic finding of the new study is

that both jumping and weight-lifting were

able to increase overall bone density and

lumbar spine density after six months, and

weight-lifting also increased hip bone density.

The twice-a-week strength training program

focused on exercises that load the hips and

spine, such as squats, modified dead lifts, and

military press.

The thrice-weekly jumping program involved

a mix of single- and double-leg jumps in

various directions, off boxes, over hurdles and

so on, starting with 10 reps of five different

jumps and progressing. (Studies suggest that

the benefits of a single jumping session max

out after 40 to 100 jumps, so they did no more

than 100 jumps at a time.)

The bottom line? Whether you’re a man or a

woman, your bones are getting steadily

weaker unless you’re doing exercises that strengthen them. If you’re particularly at risk

for falls or weak bones, these are the types of exercises you might want to focus on.

Source: Alex Hutchinson Thursday, July 23, 2015

Page 4

TRAINING FOR STRONG BONES

Page 5

A kettlebell workout is a sure way to torch calories – and fast! According to the American Council on Exercise, the average person burns 400 calories in a 20-minute kettlebell workout. Here is a workout that will get you squatting, pressing and pulling in functional ways that will enhance real life activities.

1. Goblet Squats

This is a great exercise to hit all of the major muscle groups in your legs, especially your quads, says Schenk. HOW TO DO IT: Hold the kettlebell by the handles, and stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart. Squat down until your hips are parallel to your knees and your elbows are inside your knees while maintaining an upright pos-ture. Then stand back up and repeat.

Fat-Torching Kettlebell Moves

.

Page 6

Fat-Torching Kettlebell Moves

2. Thruster

This exercise is a total body movement that is a progression of the goblet squat. According

to Schenk, this move will result in improved cardio, as well as increased strength in quads,

glutes, shoulders and arms. HOW TO DO IT: Hold the kettlebell by the handle with both

hands, keeping it close to your body and near your sternum. With your back flat and your

weight evenly distributed throughout your feet, squat down until your elbows get close to

your knees. As you straighten your legs to stand up, press the kettlebell overhead.

3. Dead-Lift

This exercise strengthens the legs, glutes and lower back. Hold the kettlebell with both

hands straight down in front of you. HOW TO DO IT: Keep the weight evenly distributed

throughout your feet and squat down as low as you can while keeping your back and arms

straight. Stand up to perfect posture and repeat.

Fat-Torching Kettlebell Moves

4. Dead-Lift to a High-Pull

This is a great total body movement that is a natural progression of the high-pull. It will

target your legs, biceps and shoulders, says Schenk. HOW TO DO IT: Start off in the

standing position with your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart and the kettle-

bell between your feet. Squat down and then stand up and pull the kettlebell handle to

your chin while bringing your elbows up high. Bring the kettlebell back to the starting

position and repeat.

5. Renegade Rows

This is a great exercise to not only challenge all of your back and biceps but the front of

your shoulders, triceps and especially your core as well. HOW TO DO IT: Start off in a push

-up position while holding a kettlebell underneath each shoulder. Position your feet a lit-

tle wider than shoulder width apart. Alternate pulling one kettlebell at a time up to the

side of your rib cage. Add an extra challenge by doing a push-up in-between each pull.

However, be very careful if you’re using smaller kettlebells as this decreases their surface

area and your ability to balance.

Page 7

Proper breathing is essential during exercise. During aerobic activities, such as running or swimming, a good breathing pattern ensures that your working muscles will continue to receive the oxygen they need to keep contracting. According to researchers at the Universi-ty of New Mexico, proper breathing is also central to nonaerobic forms of exercise, includ-ing weightlifting, yoga, tai chi and Pilates.

How Breathing Works When you inhale, air is pulled into microscopic air sacs in the lungs called alveoli, where oxy-gen is delivered to red blood cells and carbon dioxide is transferred from the blood to the air in the alveoli. The oxygen-rich blood flows to your heart, which then pumps it out to your body. You exhale the carbon dioxide.

Breathing Naturally The respiratory center of your brain automati-cally sends messages to your respiratory muscles, telling them when to breathe. This is au-tomatic; you don't have to think about it. But according to researchers at the University of New Mexico, when you exercise, your brain notes that there is an increase in carbon diox-ide and lactic acid—a byproduct of exercising muscles—in your blood and tells your res-piratory muscles to increase the speed and depth of your breaths so you can offload all that extra carbon dioxide and deliver additional oxygen to your working muscles.

The Pace of Your Breathing According to the American Council on Exercise, you can determine your effort level during exercise by how hard you are breathing. For moderate-intensity exercise, such as walking, you should not be breathing so hard that you can't carry on a conversation. For vigorous-intensity exercise, such as jogging, you will be breathing faster but you still should be able to talk in short sentences. Elite athletes who are exercising near their maximum heart rate usually can't say more than a word or two because they are breathing so hard.

Page 8

IMPORTANCE OF BREATHING DURING EXERCISE

Meditative Breathing Breathing patterns and techniques are central to the practice of yoga and tai chi. Yoga is not considered an aerobic exercise but, nevertheless, can improve your strength and flexi-bility. According to University of New Mexico researchers, yoga's pranayama breathing technique improves your immune system and helps with hypertension, asthma and stress. Similarly, tai chi, an ancient Chinese form of martial arts, uses movement, meditation and breathing to improve health. According to the American Cancer Society, tai chi improves posture, balance, muscle mass, flexibility, stamina and strength and provides the same car-diovascular benefits as other moderate exercises such as walking. Deep breathing through the diaphragm contributes to its benefits.

True Breathing The idea that the best way to take a deep breath is to expand your chest is a misnomer. University of New Mexico researchers say the best way to get a full, deep breath is to breathe from the diaphragm while expanding the chest at the same time. Allow the inhala-tion to push out your belly and expand your rib cage as opposed to lifting your shoulders.

Breathing With Exertion According to the Heart and Vascular Institute at Penn State, proper breathing is also im-portant when doing other types of stretching. Slow and controlled breathing as you enter a stretch can better allow muscles to relax and lengthen. Fitness experts at the University of California-Riverside say the correct breathing technique when lifting weights is to exhale at the point where the exertion and effort is the greatest.

Written by: Jim Sloan. Jim Sloan is a writer and editor in Reno, Nevada. He has been a jour-nalist for more than 25 years and is the author of two books, "Staying Fit After Fifty," and "Nevada: True Tales from the Neon Wilderness.

Page 9

IMPORTANCE OF BREATHING DURING EXERCISE