Lynbrook | New Hyde Park | NY

physiologists

Warming Up for Recreational Sports

March Madness is here and spring is right around the corner! Baseball has started Spring Training and the weather is starting to get nicer as the days get longer. For all of the avid basketball fans and recreational players, it’s exciting to watch the college basketball season come to a close. Many of us don’t do as much physical activities in the winter as we do when the weather starts to get warmer. We all can reminisce on the “good old days” when we were able to just go for a run or play a sport without warming up. However, the more time you’ve spent away from an activity should mean more time that you spend on a quality warm up and cool down. This is important to help prevent injuries and ensure you’re feeling great for the next days.

Taking 5-10 minutes to go through some light stretching and dynamic movements is important for your well-being. Here’s an example of a simple warm up you can do before most physical activities:

1) Light Jogging ~3-5 minutes

2) Walking Quad stretch (kick your heels up to your butt while stepping forward)

3) Frankenstein’s (lightly kicking leg straight in front while walking forward)

4) Lunge with Reach (step forward with one leg then bend both knees to 90 degrees and lift arms to the sky)

5) Side Lunges (with toes facing forward, step sideways bending one leg while keeping the other straight then step to the other side)

There are many different warm ups and ways to make it more for your activity. Your Exercise Physiologist can develop a specific program for you. Remember the goal of a warm up is to get your body ready for the activities it will soon be doing. Increasing your heart rate and increasing blood flow to skeletal muscles will decrease your chance for injuries during sports. Most importantly, have fun out there and be safe!

 

Corynne Pereira

Muscle Madness: Trapezius

The Exercise Physiologists at Peak Performance know all the muscles in the body, but which ones are our favorite?! Every week we will feature a different muscle- so you guys get an anatomy lesson and learn how to work that muscle. It’s Muscle Madness!

Tyler, what’s your favorite muscle?

My favorite muscle is the Trapezius also known as your “Traps.” I love this muscle not only because they look awesome when developed but it is a muscle that you must earn. The ‘traps’ are a true sign of strength and you must diligently work hard to develop them.

Where is it located?

The trapezius is located on your upper back. This muscle extends from your neck out towards the shoulders and down your thoracic spine.

What does this muscle do?

The trapezius is one of the major muscles of the back and is responsible for moving, rotating, and stabilizing the scapula (shoulder blade) and also supporting/tilting/twisting the head, neck and arm.

What’s a good exercise to strengthen my trapezius?

Some great exercises to help develop them would be: Deadlifts, dumbbell shrugs and face pulls. Overhead presses are also a good way to help build your traps!

Simple Exercises to Strengthen Your Ankle

As the weather gets warmer, the desire to get outside to exercise naturally increases. If you’re like most people then you’d much rather get your cardio done by doing something fun and distracting like sport, rather than being on a treadmill inside. That’s great, and sports are the best way to burn a ton of calories without even thinking twice about how long you’re playing. Unfortunately playing sports comes with its own risks and one of the most common injuries a sprained ankle. Although it doesn’t sound like much, a sprained ankle varies in severity and can be anywhere from a slight roll to nasty, crippling injury.

Speaking from personal experience, not less than a week ago I was playing basketball, jumped up for the ball and came down with all my weight and ended up rolling my ankle. Not only is this terrifying but an eye-opener as well. Escaping with just a bad “grade 2 sprain,” I could have easily fractured a bone or worse. Why wasn’t it worse? Luck, maybe. The fact that I have a strong muscular foundation surrounding and supporting my ankle is what kept me from completely shattering it. The muscles around your ankle hold it together, think of it like a house; you wouldn’t want your house built out of sticks. Same premise applies.

Here are some exercises to help keep your ankle strong and supported:

1) Single Leg Medicine Ball Toss:

Square off with a partner and toss a medicine ball back and forth while standing on one leg. Make it harder by balancing on a foam pad. Shoot for 60 seconds, 5 times.

2) Balance Foam:

Use one foot to stand on a balance foam for as long as you can without toppling over. Focus on stabilizing at the ankle. Do 5 sets for maximal time.

3) Resisted Ankle Pumps:

Sit down and place a mini resistance band around both feet. Strengthen your ankles by rotating your feet upward and outward, against the resistance. Do at least 3 sets of 15.

4) Calf Raises:

This exercise teaches your ankles to have control when your body shifts weight. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, shift weight onto your toes, and slowly lift your heels off the ground. Keep your ankles in a neutral position to prevent them from rolling out

 

By Tyler Palmquist

Muscle Madness: Gluteus Medius

The Exercise Physiologists at Peak Performance know all the muscles in the body, but which ones are our favorite?! Every week we will feature a different muscle- so you guys get an anatomy lesson and learn how to work that muscle. It’s Muscle Madness!

Matt, what’s your favorite muscle?

My favorite muscle is the gluteus medius, or glute med for short.

Where is it?

The glute med sits underneath the gluteus maximus, and starts on the rear of the ilium (round part of your hip) and ends on the outside of the femur.

What does this muscle do?

This small muscle helps to abduct the leg from the hip, and acts as a stabilizer during squat movements. The glute med also acts to stabilize the body while on one leg, particularly in day to day activities like walking, running, and balancing. A weak gluteus medius can result in catastrophe for your gait and balance!

What’s a good exercise to strengthen my gluteus medius?

A great hip training exercise is a single leg stand or balance. I like to throw in a twist for my clients to make it more challenging. For this exercise, keep a main portion of your weight on the outer foot of the outside leg, and don’t let the band pull you over!

Motivation v. Discipline

The road to success is paved with many stones; they may be labeled as: right place- right time, effort, discipline and motivation. Motivation and discipline often get lumped together as the same thing; however, they are very different from one another.

Motivation is your fuel on the road. Motivation is what helps you get going; it’s the fire in the beginning, the light at the end, and the helping hand along the way. Motivation attributes to the start of a journey and serves as a break from the day to day grind; it can come in the form of a number on a scale, a bigger paycheck, or a smile from someone you’ve helped.

Call it guts, grit, effort, fortitude or whatever you want- just don’t call it lazy. Discipline is the metaphorical meat and potatoes of success. Discipline comes into play when you wake up at 5:00 AM to make the train; it’s staying late at work to finish up that big project; it shows up at midnight when those cookies in the kitchen are calling your name; and it’ll be with you when you lose that extra pound, get that promotion or beat that mile time. Simply put, discipline is the ability to stick to the program, put in the work, and travel the long road to success.

The successful person uses both motivation and discipline to their advantage. Motivation is easy to find- we want our clients to set small goals throughout the week or month and set small rewards accordingly. Often a new pair of sneakers or some well fitting jeans after a month of weight loss usually does the trick! Find joy in going the extra mile to help someone out or put on your favorite song while heading to work or the gym. Discipline is tougher to hold on to; there are no tricks to discipline and it takes practice. When temptation rears its ugly head, remember why you started, how far you’ve come, and how far you can go.

 

Matt Rhodes, M.S., C-EP

Recipe of the Week: Moroccan Lentil Soup

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5 ½ hours
Serves 12

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups chopped onions
  • 2 cups chopped carrots
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 6 cups vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 cups chopped cauliflower
  • 1¾ cups lentils
  • 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 4 cups chopped fresh spinach or one 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
  • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

 

Directions:

  1. Combine onions, carrots, garlic, oil, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon and pepper in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add broth, water, cauliflower, lentils, tomatoes and tomato paste and stir until well combined.
  2. Cover and cook until the lentils are tender, 4 to 5 hours on High or 8 to 10 hours on Low.
  3. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, stir in spinach. Just before serving, stir in cilantro and lemon juice.

 

Serving size: about 1¼ cups
Per serving: 153 calories; 2 g fat; 10 g fiber; 28 g carbohydrates; 9 g protein

Staying Accountable For Your Resolutions

Consistency with your exercise regimen is of the utmost importance in order to achieve your desired fitness goals.  Having a trainer is a great way to stay responsible with your health and fitness because it ensures that you schedule regular exercise sessions throughout the week.  However, without a trainer you are solely responsible to keep up with regular visits to the fitness center, which may prove to be harder than it seems due to other obligations such as work and family.

One technique that may help stay accountable is to designate a regular time in which you put aside strictly for exercise.  This could be in the morning before work, or at night as your day winds down.  However, planning to exercise at night leaves more of a chance to come up with excuses to miss the gym, and on top of that we have less energy in the evening/night versus the morning.

Another strategy could be to set a goal for how many days you wish to exercise (ideally a minimum of three days a week) and then make a checklist.  Keep that checklist somewhere you will see every day to ensure you meet your weekly goal.

If for some reason due to lack of time you are unable to make it to the facility, have your trainer design a home workout for you for convenience.  Having exercise equipment at home, such as a treadmill, bike, dumbbells, and/or resistance bands will certainly help keep you accountable—or even if you walk or jog around the neighborhood for at least 30 minutes.

 

By Anthony Locast

Simple Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Cardio Session

“Cardio” is a great way to burn calories and keep your heart healthy. It could be as simple as walking on the treadmill for 30-60 minutes. However, if you’re just going through the motions, you could be wasting your time. Here are some tips to make sure you are getting the most out of your cardio exercise!

Yes, it is true that the longer you stay on cardio machine, the more calories you may burn. However, you can burn more calories in a shorter period of time by simply increasing your intensity. Whether it be increasing the resistance on a stationary bike/elliptical, or increasing the speed or incline on a treadmill.

The “fat burn zone” of cardio is said to be at about 60-65% of one’s estimated max heart rate. At this intensity, 40% of your calories burned will be from fat. This is a fairly low level of intensity and would have to be maintained to for a much longer period of time in order to have a substantial benefit. When you increase your intensity to 75-85% of max heart rate, only 25-30% of your calories burned will be from fat. However, because more work is being done you will burn more total calories and consequently more calories from fat.

Along with changing the intensity, try changing the type of cardio you do once in a while. The human body is great at adapting, and once it is acclimated the same form of cardio may not exhibit the same training effect. If you usually walk on the treadmill, try the bike, elliptical, arc-trainer, stair stepper, rowing, swimming… Try them all!

Finally, it is very important that you eat! Starving yourself before can deprive you of the energy needed to complete a cardio session and starving yourself after will hinder your ability to recover from your workout. In the long run, “starvation” will negatively affect your exercise goals by decreasing muscle and retaining fat.

On other hand, you must make sure you do not eat too much! Just because the elliptical says you burned 400 calories doesn’t mean you’ve earned yourself a 400 calorie meal. Firstly, the machines can only estimate calories so that number may not be 100% accurate. Secondly, weight loss comes down to energy in vs. energy out. So in order to lose weight, you must eat less calories than you’ve burned.

 

By Dave McCalla