Exercising with lower back pain?

If you are suffering lower back pain, read on here

Running Group homework

Great turnout this morning. Given we will be moving this to a fortnightly meeting, next meeting will be on:
Saturday 6 March - we will meet at Sandon Point Carpark

Homework until then is:

Homework for the next two weeks:
always start with a brisk 5 minute walk to start and finish - and stretch at the end.

Week 1:

Day 1: Jog 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds. Repeat for 20 minutes total.

Days 2 & 3: Jog 90 seconds, walk 2 minutes - keep alternating this for a total of 20 mins

Week 2:
Day 1 Jog 90 seconds, walk 2 minutes - repeat for total of 20 minutes

Days 2 & 3: Jog 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, jog 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes - then repeat this through one more time. Total time: 18 minutes.

Office aches reduced by strength training

Strength training exercises can help women suffering from tenderness and tightness in the upper trapezius muscle. A Danish study has identified five dumbbell exercises aimed at reducing repetitive stain injury caused by office work.

The response from a Danish survey showed more than half of female office workers reported frequent neck pain and more than two-thirds of these suffered from tightness of the trapezius muscle.

Forty-two female office workers participated in the 10-week study. All subjects had suffered chronic or frequent pain in the neck area and tightness and tenderness of the upper trapezius muscle. Of these 42 women, a group of 18 did five exercises with dumbbells. They included one-arm row, shoulder abduction, shoulder elevation, reverse fly and upright row. These exercises isolate the shoulder and the neck muscles, including the trapezius. Three sets of three of these exercises were performed three times per week, and weights were progressively increased throughout the 10 weeks.

This group of women experienced significant changes, including improved rapid force capacity and an increased number of type II muscle fibres, the fibres important in the generation of power. Furthermore, the training helped reduce pain levels by more than 50 per cent.

The findings suggest that the strength training was able to reduce the pain and further enhance the body’s ability to rapidly activate the muscle. Activating the muscle depends upon rapid coordination of nerve signals and it was the nerve signaling that seemed to have improved. The researchers also said that the strength training may have encouraged the women to set aside the fear of pain and thus helped improve performance.
Source: Journal of Applied Physiology

Fat oxidation not enough for fat loss say Sydney scientists

Australian scientists have rebuffed the claims of recent years that fat oxidation (burning fats as opposed to carbohydrates) is sufficient for promoting fat loss. The scientists from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research reconfirmed the obvious (but often unpopular with the general population) notion that the only reliable way to lose weight is to eat less and exercise more.

Using genetically-altered mice, it was shown that although fats can be burned in preference to carbohydrates, it was the unburned carbohydrates that were actually stored as fat. This resulted in the altered mice having the same weight and body composition as the normal mice.

The research was focused on the enzyme which controls whether cells burn fats or carbohydrates, known as acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC2). Scientists demonstrated that by blocking off the ACC2 enzyme, cells were now required to burn the fats first, rather than carbohydrates.

The researchers said that previous studies had misinterpreted the process as being able to make fat stores ‘evaporate,’ without people changing food intake or energy expenditure; ‘Our data urges a correction in people’s concept of a magic bullet… something that will miraculously make them thin while they sit on the couch watching television’ said study Associate Professor Greg Cooney; ‘while none of the large pharmaceuticals companies have marketed ACC2 inhibitors, there are many kinds of so called ‘fat-burning pills’ available in the health food, body building and alternative medicine markets, where limited clinical effectiveness data are required’.
Source: Cell Metabolism

..and more...

Sydney Tough Bloke (and Chick) Competition

Well, if you want to 'embrace' the mud, and enjoy climbing cargo nets, sliding through concrete pipes, commando crawling through sloshy thick mud, climbing mounds of tyres, running about 7km through the bush and sliding down the insides of tyres...then the Tough Bloke Competition is for you.
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Entries are now open and you can click here to enter

We will also be planning a Bootcamp Bush Bash challenge up at Appin in preparation in March - email me for details

Rain Rain Go away.....

but don't let the rain be the thing that ruins your exercise attempts.

There are so many quick easy workouts that you can do at home - no equipment, just your bodyweight!

You could warm up with a spot of housework! (Kidding)

Get your body nice and warm by skipping on the spot (with or without a rope) for 3 minutes
then do a circuit routine of:

10 pushups
10 star jumps
10 situps or crunches
10 squat jumps
10 tricep dips
10 burpees (they had to find their way in to the routine somehow)

Repeat this for 2-3 x as time permits, then cool down by walking around the house, and make sure you stretch - glutes, hamstrings, quads, chest, shoulders and arms

Done and dusted with a total body workout that incorporates strength, cardio & plyometrics :-)