According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, over 30% of employees report high levels of stress and experience associated health problems on an ongoing basis. While there are a number of reasons for the cause of stress at work, its effect frequently results in illness and injury. The common disorders ensuing from a stressful work environment include psychological, emotional, behavioral and cognitive ailments. If left unchecked, simple issues may evolve over time into serious illnesses such as cardiovascular disease.

You will need to cope with these pressures because although the causes may not be in your control, you will suffer the effects of job stress. To mitigate these effects, you may need to make lifestyle choices such as taking care of your diet and achieving work-life equilibrium. The set of stress inducing factors you deal with are unique to your individual situation. Implementing a daily exercise routine is just one step in the multi-faceted approach to helping yourself to improve workplace performance. The benefits of following such a routine have been shown to increase morale, improve mood and energy levels, and to achieve focus and induce relaxation.

How does exercising on a daily basis help you improve your performance on the job?  Exercising daily has been proven to improve your mood and overall health, which has a positive impact on your ability to achieve your work goals.  A research study in the International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management by Sameer Kumar, et al (1) conducted a cost-benefit analysis of a company’s employee wellness program and healthcare costs. It determined that improving employee health resulted in enhanced worker performance and thereby increased the organization’s productivity. Thus it established a direct link between employee health and work productivity.A second study in the Journal by J.C. Coulson et al (2) measured the specific effects of exercise in the workplace by a group of employees. The employees recorded data on days they exercised as well as on days they did not exercise. On comparison, a direct link between exercise and employee productivity was established. It was found that on the days that the group of employees chose to exercise, they experienced a positive change in mood, which led to enhanced performance outcomes.

If you are experiencing symptoms or know a person who has difficulties related to the workplace, including muscle aches, changes in appetite, sleep deprivation, and fatigue, we can help by customizing a plan to incorporate exercise in your daily routine. Our programs will help you cope with your career goals and help you improve your workplace performance over time.

If you believe that you might benefit from the effects of job related health issues by spending a small amount of time on a daily exercise plan, call us @ 508-845-3974 and schedule fitness assessment. We will tailor an exercise plan for your individual needs and discuss options outlining the mode, frequency and intensity of a workout plan in order to help you achieve a healthier work-life balance.

References:

(1) Operational Impact of Employee Wellness Programs: A Business Case StudyKumar, Sameer; McCalla, Michael; Lybeck, Eric: International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. 58(6):581-597, 2009. DOI: 10.1108/17410400910977109

(2) Exercising at Work and Self-Reported Work PerformanceCoulson, J.C.; McKenna, J.; Field, M. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. 1(3):176-197, 2009. DOI: 10.1108/17538350810926534

When you’re told that exercise improves your heart health, you probably automatically think of cardio exercises right? After all, “cardio” is short for “cardiovascular” exercise, named as such because it utilizes the cardiorespiratory system, which consists of your heart, lungs, and blood vessels, which work together to supply oxygen and nutrients to all your vital organs. But did you know that heart-pumping cardio isn’t the only exercise that helps to keep your heart healthy? That’s right, pumping iron in the gym can help your most important muscle in the body- your heart- pump better, too!

Strength training exercise works the heart in a completely different way. At any given moment, certain muscles are contracting and relying predominantly on type two muscle fibers, which are responsible for making us stronger. As the muscles contract—say the arm muscles during a bicep curl—they press and close the blood vessels that flow through them. This leads to increased blood pressure in the rest of the body and the heart has to fight against a stronger force to push blood out. The heart adapts to this by increasing the thickness of the left ventricle wall. This thickness derived from chronic weight training is healthy, whereas the thickness from chronic high blood pressure is not.

Strength training increases your heart rate just as cardio and circuit training does, depending on resistance, repetitions and rest between sets. As your heart rate increases, so too does your ability to burn calories and lose weight. Lung health improves, as well. While increasing muscular strength doesn't directly improve your lung health, strengthening weak arm and leg muscles increases your body's endurance. This, in turn, reduces your body's exhaustion and breathlessness, which means your lungs don't have to work as hard.

Exercise also stimulates the production of new blood vessels. As we make more blood vessels, there are more places for blood to flow, which results in more efficient circulation. Cardiovascular exercise increases the number of new blood vessels while resistance training increases the size of those blood vessels.

Use it or lose it. Muscle mass naturally diminishes with age but strength training can help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass at any age. Once cleared to exercise, it doesn't take much time to obtain the heart-healthy benefits of resistance-training! The AHA recommends that healthy adults perform 8-10 strength-training exercises (to work the whole body) twice a week. They advise picking a resistance level that allows you to fatigue your muscles within 8-12 repetitions, but beginners and older or frailer individuals should use much lighter weights, aiming for 10-15 repetitions per set.

Have you ever wanted to work out, but have trouble finding enough time?  It happens; everyone gets too busy from time to time.  Skipping workouts is the last thing you should do.  There are ways to get an effective total body workout in a very short period of time.  The trick is to do the right exercises with high intensity.

 A TRX or Blast Strap workout is a very easy way to get great metabolic and total body strengthening workout in 20-30 minutes.  If you have access to either of these, talk to your trainer and get a short workout put together.  Super-setting heavy resistance training exercises is another great way to accomplish an effective workout. 

 Try pairing exercises together that don’t include the same movement/muscle groups.  This allows you to perform the exercise efficiently while minimizing down time.  Throwing a core exercise between sets or explosive exercises is another great way to include metabolic exercise in with your strength exercises.

 Interval training is another great way to get a quick challenging workout in.  Any form of cardio equipment or even running/biking outside will work for this.  Always do a quick warm-up before performing this type of exercise.  Then perform the exercise with high intensity for 15-60 seconds (depending on the level you are at), and follow it up with a time of recovery doing the same movement.  Recovery time can range from 30 seconds to 3 minutes.  An example would be riding a stationary bike with high resistance as fast as possible for 20 seconds then backing the resistance down to a comfortable pace for 60 seconds and then repeat for as long as needed.

Have you ever had a serious traumatic injury like a bone break or shoulder dislocation?  Have you ever dealt with a nagging chronic injury that doesn’t seem to go away, such as tennis elbow?  Most likely you have.  So my next question is, when you were dealing with that injury, how did it effect your everyday performance?  Did it limit you from participating in recreational activities or working out? Again, most likely it did.

How can I make this presumption?  Because I see people being limited everyday in our physical therapy clinic and one of the biggest frustrations our patients have is not being able to exercise, especially when they were injured while exercising in the first place.  So, the physical therapist’s role is then to get the client back to doing what they want, without pain, as soon as possible—we all know that.  

This process of introducing exercise sooner in a course of Physical Therapy actually helps improve client recovery outcomes and gets our clients motivated to stay healthy through exercise.  By working with our Fitness Academy trainers, our PT clients are able to improve their overall health and wellness while they recover from their injury.  

1. A Concrete Plan of Action:  If you walk into a gym and decide on a whim what exercises you are going to do, you are actually putting yourself at risk for injury.  Too many times, people do the traditional “mirror workout” or train only what you see.  But when you train only the visible, you are at risk of having an unbalanced workout which can create muscular imbalances, which then can lead to injury.  A customized exercise program is a complete plan designed to train the total body and help prevent the likelihood of injury!
2. It is Progressive:  Many people see initial success with a new exercise program, but continue to train with that same program for months or even years.  It is then people see fitness plateaus and no longer see results.  With a customized exercise program, your plan will include proper progressions to challenge your body in a safe way and that will insure continued success!
3. Addresses Your Specific Needs:  Many of us come across the latest workout trends in our favorite newspapers or magazines, but those workouts are created for the general public.  Whether you have been ordered to lose weight for health reasons or are coming off of an injury and need additional strength, a customized exercise program will address your specific needs and will help you to see great results faster than a general workout!
4. Addresses Your Goals:  If you are training for a marathon, it does not make sense to do a workout that promotes increased muscle mass.  A customized exercise program is designed to help you reach your goals.  Whether you want to increase your endurance, or gain muscle mass the customized exercise plan will be designed to help you achieve your specific goals!
5. Keeps you Motivated:  Knowing you have a plan that has a variety of exercises that are designed to help you achieve better fitness can help you stay engaged with your workouts.  A new exercise program provides variety which can prevent boredom and keeps you motivated to achieve your fitness goals!

The first way to recognize the need for change in your life, on any level, is to pay attention to your signals.  Signals are an indication, sign or token indicating an action needs to be made known or communicated somehow.  We receive and transmit signals to one another and to self multiple times throughout the day.  The challenge comes in paying attention to these inner and outer indicators.  Are we on the right track, or not?  Signals can be subtle, like in a dream, a message in a song or a small shift that you notice recurring in your body or thoughts. 

Some common signals that you may notice in your body are headaches, gastrointestinal discomfort, weight gain, neck or back pain, sleep disturbance.  In relationships you might feel irritability, a lackluster social life (or one that is raging out of control!), difficulty communicating or being in positive relation to either family or work colleagues.  Are you feeling productive or just crazy busy all the time?  These common signals want your attention!

As a massage therapist and life coach, I am always curious as to why people choose not to pay attention to the messages they are receiving.  Why don’t you pay attention, you might ask yourself (very good questions, by the way!!).  I have found that denial, fear, lack of time and the stressors of life keep us out of touch with what we intuitively know we need to do to create change. 

We don’t need to take on a 360 approach to all aspects of our lives.  Consider what you are able to reasonably change; taking small steps that will lead to more satisfaction, more engagement in a lifestyle that you align with and ultimately living intentionally, day in and day out.  As we pay more attention to the power of signals, we have a choice whether or not to listen to the messages.  Here are some suggestions to shake off what no longer serves you, welcoming all that does.

1. Over a weeks time write down anything you notice, body, mind and spirit that makes you feel unhappy or uncomfortable.  Pay attention to those things that recur regularly.

2. Be hones with yourself and ask why you haven’t done anything, to this point, to alter, change or redirect your energy for a positive outcome.  Ask someone else, whom  you trust, for their feedback as well. 

3. Reflect on a larger life goal for yourself and ask how making a change in an area could support you, in any way, to attain that goal.  (ie: Goal: To be in better relationship with family.  Change: Reduce computer time or TV watching.  Outcome: Relationships begin to be more enjoyable and fulfilling.)

4. Share your intentions with someone to support you in accountability.

5. Write things down!!!  An incredibly powerful way to engage the mind, creating action and forward movement.   

Take a Breath, Change a Thought, Engage in Action.

Marilyn Taylor, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Life Coach

Confident Directions Life Coaching

Www.confident-directions.com

(508) 460-0044  

As a patient, having a team of health and wellness professionals to address each aspect of your health is beneficial to ensure your long-term wellness.  Not only does it provide you with the highest level of care because multiple facets of your health are being addressed, but it also gives you access to the strengths of each health and wellness practitioner.   

In terms of your long-term wellness or the treatment of an injury, there are many different approaches.  For example, physical therapists and acupuncturists both can treat shoulder pain.  The ways in which these health care professionals approach pain may be very different.  The overall outcome of having each discipline care for you can be better than having only one type of care. 

Additionally, every person responds to treatment in his or her own individual way.  Being treated by one health and wellness discipline may not be enough for some individuals to reach their long term wellness goals.  Being cared for by a team of wellness professionals can oftentimes, mean the difference between reaching your goals and falling short. 

At All Access you have a variety of health and wellness professionals in house to care for you needs.  You also can take advantage of the relationships we have build with other top health and wellness providers to assure that your specific needs are being addressed and that your long term wellness goals are met. 

What is an ankle sprain?

The ankle is a complicated joint which attaches the foot to the lower leg.  Along with the muscles which surround the joint, your ankle is stabilized by a group of connective tissues known as ligaments.  An ankle sprain occurs when the ligaments are stretched beyond their normal limits and in turn the ligaments become injured.  This can range from a minor interruption of the fibers to a full tear of the fibers.  When this occurs symptoms usually include pain, tenderness, swelling, limited ability to move the foot, as well as weakness.

 An individual may be at higher risk for developing an ankle sprain if they have altered foot mobility—either a foot that is too mobile or not mobile enough.  These individuals have altered stress placed through their foot and ligaments with each step and overtime, this can weaken ligaments making the susceptible to injury. 

 How is it treated?

The acute ankle sprain is usually treated by following the RICE protocol— rest, ice, compression and elevation.  It is vital to limit occurrence of further injury to these ligaments while they are healing, which is why the ankle may be partially immobilized using a brace or walking boot and occasionally use of crutches is necessary.  Ice, compression and elevation work to limit excessive swelling which can prolong healing process and limit ankle mobility.

It is important, as the injury is healing, to strengthen the muscles that support the ankle as well as the core, hip and knee muscles.  This should continue to be done in a pain free manner in order to ensure continued healing of the injury.  Activities often used in the rehabilitation of ankle sprains include range of motion exercises, ankle resistance band activities to improve strength, balance activities on stable and unstable surfaces, planks and squatting activities, and functional activities such as jumping and agility work when your physical therapist says you are ready. 

 How can it be prevented?

Performing balance activities on dynamic surfaces helps to improve muscle strength and stability around the ankle which helps to protect the ligaments around the ankle.  Additionally, having a conditioning program which focuses not only on ankle strengthening, but also having proximal strength at core/hip/knee strength, will allow for better stability at the more distal ankle.

On the other side, making sure you’re the muscles of the lower body are flexible enough to withstand forces which cause ankle sprains is also very important.  This includes stretching for calf muscles, quadriceps, hamstrings and lower back.

One of the first things that I talk about with a new student or new group is the idea of potential.  There is potential for greatness in all of us whether our field is sports, art, music, dance, computer programming, etc.  We all want to reach our potential and deep down in our thoughts, we know that potential is there inside of us and it’s just waiting to come out.  Oftentimes we see it in others as well as especially in coaching situations.  But sometimes that potential has trouble bubbling up to the surface.  Why is that?

In his Foundations of Positive Psychology course, Tal Ben-Shahar uses Michaelangelo’s statue of David as a metaphor for that potential of greatness within all of us.  When Michaelangelo was asked how he created such a beautiful sculpture as his David, he said the following:

“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”

In other words, Michaelangelo was able to look at a block of marble and see the potential for beauty within it.  His job was to chip away at the excess stone to reveal that beauty to the rest of the world.  The metaphor is that we are all blocks of marble with a David within us, and there is excess stone that is blocking our potential from being revealed and realized.  But what is that excess stone and how can we chip away at it?  According to Ben-Shahar, the excess stone that is covering our David is an internal system of self limiting beliefs.  These self limiting beliefs may be about our own abilities in a particular field or about the world in general.  They may even be general societal beliefs that have been imposed on us and are considered to be conventional wisdom, but in reality, many of these beliefs stifle our growth and potential.

So what’s an example of a self limiting belief?  The simplest example is in how we use the word “can’t”.  Do you ever use the word can’t in regards to your practice or performance?  I can’t execute a particular skill or I can’t beat him or her might be how you’ve limited yourself with this dangerous little word in the past.  And it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  If you believe that you can’t beat someone or can’t do something, you are inevitably correct.  All of your thoughts are focused on what you can’t do rather than what you can do.  It is what you can do that leads to taking positive steps to the unlocking of your potential, but that path isn’t easy.

Focusing on what you can do will lead to work to do in practice, in the gym, in the classroom, etc., all in the effort of revealing your inner David.  It will be hard work.  By eliminating the word can’t from your vocabulary, you are eliminating an excuse to not do the work required to be the best player and athlete that you can be.  Instead of thinking that you can’t do something, rephrase the statement in a way that gives you something to do.  I can’t execute a skill could become I need to learn that skill to be a better player and I will do it.  This statement empowers you to think of actions to take to make it come true.  If you begin to think in this manner, you’ll start to see improvements in your game and you’ll take pride in the fact that you are taking action.

Brian Lomax

Performance Xtra

You may have noticed some of the equipment at All Access Fitness Academy and wanted to know how to use it and what it is for.  The medicine balls and blast straps are fun and easy to use.  Incorporate them into your fitness routine to mix it up and stay motivated!!!

The medicine ball is simply a coated ball filled with varying amounts of weight.  because of its shape, you can use them for a variety of movements such as walking lunges while holding the ball to your chest for added resistance (or over your head to increase the difficulty) or twisting exercises for your abdominals.  You can even increase the difficulty of walking for a distance by carrying a medicine ball with you.  Depending on the exercise that you are doing, such as medicine ball slams or tosses, it may be more appropriate to choose on of the non-rubber coated balls so that it doesn't bounce when thrown against a surface.

The blast straps are another unique tool that offers a wide variety of full body exercises.  Since they have two adjustable straps with a metal handle attached to them, you are able to hold on and use your own body as resistance, making these ideal for people who travel often and would like a lightweight solution to exercise while on the go.  These straps can be used for typical exercises - such as push ups, squats, and rows - to more advanced exercises like a single leg squat, bicep curl, and abdominal fall outs.  Because of the added instability of the straps, the exercises can be adjusted to accommodate everyone, from the person who is currently in physical therapy to the advanced exerciser looking for new and challenging exercises. 

Ask any All Access staff member to show you how to get started!!!

Quality amounts of physical activity are beneficial from an overall health standpoint. There are numerous benefits of daily physical activity including lower blood pressure, healthy weight management, improved emotional state and many others. Recent studies have found strong correlations between physical fitness, exercise and cancer. Individuals that exercise regularly and are generally physical fit have decreased risk of cancer and a higher chance of recovering from existing cancer conditions. The strongest correlations involve colon, breast, endometrial, and lung cancers. Itwill improve the treatment for mesothelioma.

Prevention is Best!

The health benefits of physical activity improve overall health and wellness. Overall health and wellness is a strong preventer of cancer. This is primarily due to the nature of cancer. Damaged or unhealthy tissues are more prone to cancer. An unhealthy immune system is less able to combat cancer cells. It is often unknown that everyone has cancer, all the time. Cancerous cells are constantly popping up throughout the body—even in healthy individuals. The difference between not even noticing these cancerous cells and developing a tumor is often based on immune response and overall body health.

Overall, patients were found to have between a 30% and 60% less chance of developing cancer if they had active lifestyles. High activity rates during adolescence seemed to have an especially positive effect. This may be due to the development of foundational activity habits during the teens years that carried their positive benefits throughout life.

The Important Link Between Exercise, Mental Health, and Cancer
When most people think of exercise and physical fitness they think of managing weight, building muscular strength, or maintaining the heart. These are all very beneficial effects of an active lifestyle, but the psychological effect of exercise is equally as important. Optimistic or so-called “happy” people tend to have naturally lower blood pressure, longer lifespans, and stronger immune systems. Depressed mood creates all manner of physical harm to the body. This is why many symptoms of depression include body pain and longer recovery times from injury or sickness.

Exercise is an important part of staying happy and avoiding depressed mood. Vigorous exercise causes the release of hormones in the brain which have a natural anti-depressant effect. Anything that makes you break a sweat is sufficient vigorous exercise. Many psychologists conclude that the effects of natural, exercise-induced hormones are as effective in reducing depression symptoms as prescription drugs. There are also no side-effects.

In a patient already diagnosed with cancer, maintain an optimistic mental state is all the more challenging and important. Your own body is your strongest weapon against cancer. Your immune system deals with cancerous cells every day. If you do develop a tumor or cancer diagnosis, your immune system is still your best ally. Positive mood elevates the effectives of your immune response to battle cancer.

Increased Survival Rates

Studies on breast and colon cancer showed direct correlation between increased physical activity and survival rates of those already diagnosed with cancer. Home-based fitness programs lessened the likelihood of cancer recurrence and assisted the women involved in the study in maintaining strength and energy balance. The degenerative effects of most cancer treatments, and the resulting fatigue, were lessened in those women who either maintained or increased their activity levels. High activity levels have a direct correlation on lowering the various negative effects of common cancer treatments.

Effects Related to Breast Cancer

Many types of breast cancer are caused-by or responsive-to hormone levels. An active lifestyle assists in regulating and balancing hormone levels which will effectively combat many types of breast cancer. It will also increase the effectiveness of other treatments.

Effect Related to Colon Cancer

High activity levels have a direct effect on metabolism and digestion. There is a strong tendency toward an increase in both. Good physical fitness tends to decrease colon inflammation and lessens the time the colon is exposed to various passing carcinogens. Both are important in lessening colon cancer risk.

How Much Activity is Enough?

The health benefits of physical fitness can be achieved without extreme levels of activity. In fact, it is a process of diminishing returns. It is not necessary to be an athlete, run twenty miles a day or weight-lift for four hours to achieve excellent health benefits. In fact, if the goal of physical activity is purely to improve overall health a more moderate exercise plan is usually preferred. Intense physical activity has some extra benefits, but also increasingly high risks of injury.

Moderate physical activities include brisk walking, jogging, swimming, or doing light aerobics for between 30 and 60 minutes a day. This should be done at least 3 times a week, but once every day is preferred. This activity is will not be intense enough to require “rest days” like more intense training regiments would.

David Haas

 

Everyone wants to improve their health, but most people feel they’re too busy and stuck in their routines to take time for themselves and their wellbeing.  The solution often lies in the problem; you’ve got to incorporate simple, beneficial habits into your routine. 

Let’s approach the issue in 3 steps: prepare, perform, and recover.  Preparing for your day is as simple as eating properly.  This can be an overwhelming topic with a lot of options and varied opinions, but staying away from heavily processed foods and preservatives will help increase your overall nutritional intake.  If it doesn’t grow or run in nature, such as a toaster pastry, than it likely will not supply your body with good nutrition.  When grocery shopping, begin your shopping in the fruit and vegetable aisle and try to stock up, rather than treating it as an afterthought.  This will make it easier to create meals with varied colors, a good indicator of nutrition. 

Let’s talk “performance”.  You may feel that you don’t have enough energy to exercises, but you’ve got to understand that exercise is a positive feedback loop.  People who exercise have more energy than those who do not because their bodies respond to the demands being placed upon them, creating more energy to match the needs of their routine.  Starting small brisk walking 20-30 minutes, 3 times a week should be enough to shake the rust off a long draught of exercise.  This does not require specialized equipment or a major time commitment, just a commitment to incorporate it into your weekly routine. 

From an effort perspective, “recovery” is the easiest part!  Sleeping requirements differ from person to person, but it’s a safe assumption that you require 7.5 hours of sleep.  People sleep in 90 minute cycles.  The next time you wake during the middle of the night, there’s a good chance it will be in a 90 minute interval from the time you fell asleep.  Five 90 minute cycles (7.5 hours) will allow your mental and physical wellbeing to recover the stresses of your day and ensure you’re ready to begin your following day alert and prepared to continue your healthy lifestyle.   

In December of 2011, CNN reported some of the top fitness trends to look forward to in 2012.  We are proud to say that All Access is ahead of the trends!

Zumba and Other Dance Workouts

Dance workouts are a great way to add variety to your traditional workout routine.  Not only do they provide a cardiovascular workout to great music, but they also focus on core and leg strengthening.  All Access now has a variety of dance options for our members.  On Tuesday nights we offer Zumba and Dance Fit.  Zumba is a Latin based, easy to follow, dance party that focuses on both caloric burn and overall strengthening.  Dance Fit offers basic Zumba moves combined with traditional strength exercises to focus on muscular strengthening.

Studio Joy at All Access offer dance based fitness through the practice of Nia.  Nia is a sensory based movement and lifestyle practice that leads to health, wellness, and fitness. It empowers people of all shapes and sizes by connecting the body, mind, emotions, and spirit.  Blending simple, powerful choreography with the energy of the martial arts, the dance arts and the healing arts, Nia will make you sweat and smile!

Functional Training

Functional Training can be defined as exercises that mimic the demands of everyday life by training the body to move through similar muscular contractions, range of motion, and speed of movement.  This training is helpful in injury prevention as well as preparing the body for specific activities.  Whether it is training balance, performing exercises on unstable surfaces, or training at high speeds, All Access not only has equipment to assist in this training, but many of our classes incorporate these training methods.  Our Complete Body Conditioning class uses kettlebells, ropes, as well as exercises that require balance to get not only a more challenging workout, but also provide the training that can carry over to improve the quality of daily living.