Lynbrook | New Hyde Park | NY

Exercise

Staying Motivated Beyond January

The New Year is often thought of as an opportunity to make ourselves better. Many resolutions are made to create healthier lifestyles and create changes. It is important to keep this mentality going throughout the rest of the year- not just during the first month of the year. Here are a few tips to stay on track with your resolutions!

Workout Buddies. Bring a friend along on your morning walks or sign up for the gym together! Having someone with you will not only help keep you accountable, but make exercising more enjoyable.

Find Something You Like. Make your workouts enjoyable by choosing something you like to do! Maybe the treadmill seems dreary, but biking is more enjoyable. Strength training may seem intimidating, but the machine circuit is the perfect challenge.

Rewards. We all have big goals, but it’s important to set small goals along the way. Treat yourself to something that will keep you on the path to success. Splurge on a new pair of workout shoes or buy a fun water bottle when you reach those goals.

Change Takes Time. Remember that changes are not going to occur overnight. Center your attention towards each day and making healthy choices. Habits take time to form just as they are hard to break. It’s important to focus on the small accomplishments along the way!

 

By Louise Mills-Strasser

Fitting Workouts in Between the Holidays

We all know that the upcoming holidays can be quite a hectic and stressful time—dinner parties, family gatherings, cooking, and shopping.  With everything that’s going on, it’s easy to lose focus on your health and fitness goals- what was once a main priority takes a back seat to the holiday season.  Moreover, if you’ve been working towards shaving off a few pounds, these times can be especially difficult in terms of your nutritional intake.  Therefore, we at Peak Performance Fitness decided to provide you all with some helpful tips on how to squeeze some exercise and physical activity in among the chaos that this holiday season might bring, whether you’ve recently begun an exercise program or are maintaining your progress.

  • Set reminders. Whether you use your phone, tablet, computer, or even a pen and paper, setting reminders to exercise may be beneficial while your mind is preoccupied with other events.
  • Write down you goals and how you plan on achieving them. I’m positive that the majority of you already have your fitness goals in mind, but by writing them down and visibly seeing them every day, the goals/ideas become solidified and you are constantly reminded of what you plan on achieving; whether it’s to build strength, lose weight, or become overall healthier and fitter.
  • Prioritize. If you find yourself failing to make it to the fitness center or perform regular activity on a daily basis, it is most likely because you are putting other things ahead of your goals. What will probably help is to sit down alone, and readjust what’s most important to you—making your health and fitness one of your top priorities (which it should be) will help influence you to maintain a regular workout regimen.
  • Make a schedule. Whatever modality you use to organize your life (calendar, phone, planner, etc.), plan out the next few weeks of exercise.  Set a consistent time of the day in which you know you will be available on a weekly basis and designate it for exercise.  Many people are more likely to do something if it becomes a normal part of a daily routine at a regular time.
  • Home Workouts. If time is limited, speak to your exercise physiologist about developing a home-based workout regimen.  For example, modified push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, shoulder presses, curls, lunges, and squats are examples of exercises you can do using minimal or no equipment without even stepping outside of your house.  If your goals are weight-loss or to build up cardiovascular fitness, walking up and down the stairs, using a jump rope, or walking/jogging/bicycling around the neighborhood for a minimum of 20-30 minutes a day will certainly do the trick!

Although it’s easier said than done, do yourself a favor and do whatever it takes to fit regular exercise into your schedule.  Whether you have to wake up an extra hour early before work, or get a workout in before bed, I guarantee you will be thanking yourself after for continuing your exercise program during the busy holiday season.  Just ask yourself this question: “Would I rather not exercise because I am a little extra busy and yield no results, or would I rather give a little extra effort, make time for exercise, and reach my health and fitness goals?”

 

By Anthony Locast

Tips for a Healthy Halloween!

 

Halloween is fast approaching! This weekend there will be parties followed by buckets of candy. Don’t let this sweet holiday throw you off your goals.

Try these simple tricks to have a Healthy Halloween!

  1. Eat before trick-or-treating! Be sure to have a healthy meal or snack to hold you over. Don’t get caught munching on candy in between houses.
  2. Go trick-or-treating with your children or grandchildren. This is the perfect opportunity to get your physical activity in! Set a goal for yourself while walking door to door.
  3. Get moving. Get some exercise by making this Halloween a fun family physical activity event. Set a goal of how many houses or streets you’ll visit, or compete among each other to do as many as you can. Bring a bottle of water and wear comfortable shoes for walking!
  4. Be the house that hands out something different! Opt for the snack-sized packages of pretzels, popcorn, dried fruit, or trail mix.
  5. For our party animals, steer clear of sugary punch drinks and treats at parties. Look to make better choices, avoid mindless eating, and exercise portion control at your Halloween get-together.
  6. Wait to buy your candy until Halloween or the day before. This way you avoid temptation to pick at it beforehand. Another trick- don’t buy your favorite candy!
  7. Donate your leftover candy! Did you know Peak is holding a candy drive? We are accepting donations and sending them to our troops deployed overseas.

Member Spotlight: Cathy

Since joining Peak 5 months ago, I have seen many improvements in my healthy – I have more energy, my blood pressure is down, I sleep better, and I am down quite a few pounds. When I joined Peak, it was never about “the number” or how many pounds I “lost,” it was about changing my eating habits and my lifestyle.

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Tyler has always made me feel welcome and worthwhile from day one. He has never judged me or made me feel like I wouldn’t succeed. He has been my steadfast supporter, my cheerleader, and my voice of reason when I needed it. I have truly enjoyed working with him and look forward to much more success under his guidance.

-Cathieann Rowland

Strength Training for “Weight Loss”

Most people look to the scale in order to assess their fitness or see results from exercise. However, body weight is NOT an accurate measure of physical fitness. The number on the scale does not necessarily relate to your exercise performance. “Weight loss” is in quotations because it is possible for you to achieve your appearance and performance goals without significantly changing the numbers on the scale.

With that being said, body composition measurements, lean body mass (muscle) and body fat percentage, are better
indicators of one’s progress. Decreasing the percentage of body fat should be the main focus, as opposed to overall weight loss; and strength training has been proven to be more effective for altering body composition than ‘cardio’ (aerobic exercise).

Here’s why…

  • Muscle tissue plays a major role in our metabolism; the more muscle tissue we have, the more calories (and fat!) we can burn.
  • Strength training, when done correctly, increases our lean body mass (amount of muscle tissue) while simultaneously decreasing our body fat percentage.
  • Along with the benefits during a workout, strength training also has the ability to keep your metabolism elevated after a workout. Therefore allowing you to continue to burn fat while you aren’t exercising.
  • Comparatively, during aerobic exercise (long distance running/walking, cycling, etc.) we burn through our fat stores and muscle tissue, as well as losing water weight from sweat. So although we are “losing weight” from cardio, we are also sacrificing muscle tissue.
    • Also, aerobic exercise does not show the same post-exercise effects on metabolism as strength training.
  • Strength training increases the activity and effectiveness of hormones that control our metabolism and body composition.

Strength Training

  • Train the whole body about 3x a week, with rest days in between
  • Beginner lifters should select weights that they can lift for 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps. More experienced lifters can try heavier weights for 3 sets of 6-8 reps
  • Only rest for about 1 minute or less between sets; try to alternate sets of lower-body and upper-body exercises in order to keep the intensity of the workout high while allowing parts of our body to recover.
  • Periodically increase the weights and variety of your exercises so that your muscles are constantly being challenged.


Points to Remember

  • Because we are increasing our muscle tissue, strength training may initially result in weight gain. However, though the number on the scale is increasing, our body fat percentage will decrease and physical fitness will improve.
  • Cardio is still important for improving ones fitness, cardiovascular and respiratory health and should be
    included in weekly exercise schedules. It is just not as effective for altering body composition as strength training.
  • Diet must be monitored– Keep in mind that nutrition goes hand-in-hand with weight loss and changes in body composition. In regards to strength training, it is important to consume a sufficient amount of protein daily in order to build and recover muscle tissue.
  • Rest days- We must give our muscles time to recover from exercise to prevent prolonged muscle soreness, decrease the chance of injury, and ensure the effectiveness of our next workout.

 

By David McCalla

Understanding the Fat Burning Zone v. High Intensity Exercise

The fat burning zone is often referenced, and yes it does exist, but most people don’t understand exactly what this means. This concept is that more fat is burned at a lower intensity of training, roughly 60-70% of your max heart rate vs. a higher intensity of training. This is based off of percentages. If you are training at a lower intensity, burning 50% of calories from fat and at a higher intensity burning 35% of fat, part of the puzzle is missing. This piece shows that at a higher intensity, you burn more calories overall.

High intensity training is not always appropriate for everyone for various reasons. Maybe they are new to exercise, recovering from injuries, previous health conditions, etc. For those people able to incorporate high intensity exercise, interval training is a great way to start. Having both low intensity and high intensity exercises in your exercise program is beneficial for your body. Interval training is when you alternate between at least two activities, changing different rates of speed, degree of effort, etc. Each person has a different level which they are able work at. Finding the target heart rate is a good way to monitor the level of effort.

Beginner: This level would appropriate be anyone new to exercise or recovering from injuries. Starting with lower intensity exercise (roughly 60% heart rate) is a good way to ease your body into a routine. Incorporate higher intensity exercise very little the first 2 weeks. At this level, the higher intensity might only be 70-75% of your heart rate. The intervals will change over time, but an example would be to start with 4 min low intensity, 1 min high intensity and repeat 2-4 times.

Intermediate: This level would be for anyone who has been exercising for a while and ready to step up their program. This interval program would start with a lower intensity (roughly 60% heart rate) and a higher intensity of 80%. Maintain the lower intensity for 2 min and the higher for 1 min. This can be repeated 5 to 10 times.

Advanced: This level would be more for athletes. The interval program would start at lower intensity of 70% and a higher intensity of 90-100% of heart rate max. Maintain 1 min low intensity and 1 min high intensity. This can be repeated 10-15 times. Depending on the type of athlete these ratios will change.

Each person has their own limits and should listen to their body. These are guidelines to interval training, but not the only way to do it. The exercise physiologists at Peak Performance would be happy to set you up with a program right for you.

 

By Corynne Pereira

Summer Fun Outdoor Workouts

When it’s beautiful outside, we know it’s hard to be inside at the gym. Your kids are off from school and you need a family activity. Summers are full of BBQs and weddings- you just don’t have the time to fit it all in. There are many reasons that you simply do not want to be indoors in the summer. We have some great outdoor activities where you can catch some sun rays, have some family bonding time, and of course, get those exercises in!

Beach Workout
One of the best places to workout on a summer day is the beach! Not only will you enjoy the beautiful scenery to keep you motivated and an ocean breeze to cool you off, but you also are getting a better workout. Sand creates for a greater workload for the muscles and a higher heart rate, which leads to a more effective training method.  The surface of the sand also puts less of a strain on your feet compared to pavement. So go play some beach volleyball, throw around that Frisbee with your friends, or simply walk along side the ocean.

Circuit Training in the Park
Ever walk around the park and see equipment scattered throughout? Many of our state parks have different equipment and devices to help you complete full circuit training. Not only is this a cost effective method to exercising without having to purchase any equipment at home, but you will also get a full body workout.

Aquatics & Swimming
While cooling off in the pool, why not burn some extra calories? Swimming is great for lower and upper body strength. Water exercises may help take the pressure off your joints and muscles. Since water is a natural resistant, it helps you workout those muscles. If you aren’t big on swimming you can try out some aquatics workouts, which include: arm circles, leg lifts, walking in the water, aqua jogging and flutter kicking.

Hiking
There are many types of hiking trails that you can choose from depending on the distance you choose, type of scenery, and difficulty level. Whether it is your first time hiking or you have done it before be sure to layer your clothes, pack plenty of water, and put on sunscreen.

Walking
Every step counts so get as many in as you can! Whether it is walking to complete your errands, visiting a friend or simply enjoying a nice walk around town- walking may be one of the simplest exercises you can do. Walking can help you maintain a healthy weight and can also prevent or manage various conditions, including: heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

 

By David Daoud

When Should You Stretch?

The main purpose of stretching is to increase flexibility and reduce the risk of pain or injury during an exercise. With increased flexibility, we are able to strengthen muscles throughout their full range of motion around our joints. Before deciding when to stretch, it is important to first identify the different types of stretching and understand their effects on the body.

Types of Stretches
Static Stretching: this is the most commonly known form of stretching and involves maintaining a specific joint position for an extended time period (about 15-30 sec).

Example: Standing Hamstring stretch

Dynamic Stretching: this form of stretching requires that you actively move a joint through its full range of motion (repeated motion for period of time).

Example: Leg Swings

Stretching before Exercise
It is important to prime our muscles before exercise to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury. The best way to do this is to first perform a general warm-up in order to increase muscle temperature, increase your heart rate, and increase blood flow. Examples of a general warm-up: 5 mins of treadmill walking/ jogging, or riding the stationary bike.

Stretching performed after the warm-up should target the muscles that will be used during the workout. Though static stretching is very effective for increasing range of motion, studies have shown that it may have negative effect on exercise performance, particularly in regards to resistance training. Static stretching decreases muscle and tendon stiffness that is necessary for optimal contraction during exercise. However, dynamic stretching does not appear to have this same effect and because it involves movements that mimic exercise, we are able to prep multiple muscle groups more efficiently. Because of this, dynamic flexibility exercises are preferred before a workout.

Stretching after Exercise
Stretching can be a key part of “cool down” after a workout. Static stretching is most productive following a workout because it allows for greater blood flow back to the muscles, which is essential for proper recovery. Static stretching will increase flexibility/ joint range of motion, and because the workout is already complete, there is no reason for concern about the negative performance effects.

Stretching in General
Even if you aren’t exercising regularly, stretching has many benefits that can improve one’s health. Stretching (increasing flexibility) can decrease muscle imbalances, improve posture, reduce the risk of chronic injuries such as low back pain, and even relieve stress.

 

 

By Dave McCalla