Fit and Female

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Taking Directions From Your DNA

If you're like most of us you have wanted someone to look into a crystal ball and tell you want the future holds in store for you. 

Although there is currently no reliable way of knowing what lies ahead, technology has now made it possible to look at what our genes say the future may hold for us in terms of our health and wellbeing .

Because the company I work for is now offering genetic profiling in some of the locations, I have had the good fortune of getting my own DNA analyzed. 

The results were somewhat surprising to me.  Some new was comforting, some was a bit unsettling and some was contradictory to what I would have expected.

On the "well, okay you can breathe a sigh of relief side", I tested negative as both a carrier or someone likely to develop any of the 1200 "rare diseases" that they test for.  Whew!  Happy to hear about all of that. 

I'm also not at risk for "sudden cardiac death", three words I don't like individually and like a whole lot less when strung together.   

Then on the "gee, might want to change a few things 'cause that's kinda scary side", my DNA shows I have a 90% lifetime chance of developing osteoporosis.  Yuck!  I don't like those odds. 

Glad that I've been strength training for almost 30 years, but I wish I'd been a little better about my calcium intake. 

My genes also show I have an increased risk of heart disease and heart attack.  Average lifetime risk for women of my race is about 25% and they put my lifetime risk (based on my DNA) at 38%,

I also showed an increased likelihood for developing blood clots/thrombosis and a sensitivity toward sodium-influenced hypertension.

All of this will be good incentive for me to continue to keep up my exercise and continuing to watch my diet.  Glad my blood pressure is really low, too.

There were also a few "wow, kinda surprised by that one" findings for me.

For one, I have a greater predominance of fast twitch muscle fibers relative to slow twitch.

This means I'll do better at activities involving strength and power rather than endurance.   So much for my marathoning career.  Just as well, I wasn't planning one anyway ;-).

I also show an increased risk for arthritis in my wrists, some risk for arthritis in my hips, but interestingly (to me) no increased risk for arthritis in my knees. 

The report that comes with this is a very comprehensive tome, I'm still digesting it and thinking about tweaks that I might make moving forward.

It's facinating to me that this technology has allowed me a Dickinsonian glimpse into one potential future for me.  Moreover, I feel grateful that in knowing these things, I have a heads-up that allows me to make changes and better choices to minimize the likelihood of these particular genes expressing themselves somewhere down the line. 

 

 

Life Before The Left Brain

Just one more pearl from Mindsight,by Daniel Siegel that I thought I'd pass along.  This one is about how our brains develop during our earliest days of life.

During our first two years, the right hemisphere of the brain predominates.  This is the side of our brains involved in emotion, creativity, auditory and visual stimulation and (not surprisingly from an evolutionary perspective) facial perceptions to name just a few.  

The left hemisphere (which is associated with language, logic and sequential order) comes on line more in the 2nd year of life. 

It makes sense then that this is the time that children begin to master language and when they ask "why" questions all the time.

Although our experiences before two years of age don't have words or concious memories attached to them, these early pre-language experiences will effect the very development of a child's brain. 

Not surprisingly in this stage of a little person's life, these interactions involve bonding with one's primary caregiver (usually the mother). 

Early experiences in which children do not feel safe, cared for, connected to their caregivers can cause a host of emotions.  Hopefully, our caregivers are loving, connected and make use feel safe and protected. 

However, when our caregivers have their own issues (which prevent them from being able to develop this healthy, secure attachments with the child) the response in the child can range from fear to longing to outright distrust. 

We don't remember these experiences as we age, but our brain has been responding to those particular emotions over time from it's earliest and most formative days.  The young brain is literally wired to operate in that mode.  Like the default setting on a computer. 

This can impact us for the rest of our lives in ways we may have never connected.  For example, we may seek out angry or depressed people to have relationships with because they feel familiar. 

We are primed to respond to that type of person because it feels natural to us.  Personally, I'm facinated by this because it sounds like the neurobiological (and less oedipal and sexist ;-) explanation of the kinds of things Freud described. 

Also, Siegel says this why we sometimes "flip our lids" at things.  Even situations that the rational part of us knows shouldn't get us so upset. 

The incident likely triggered something from our very early history.  Something upsetting and something that is well-grooved in our minds and fast to fire off in the face of a situation reminiscent of something that caused the original insult.

He talks about how he works through this with his patients in therapy, but likely all of us (if we know something of our history in those earliest days) can get a sense of how that tiny person we once were must have felt. 

For most of us if we look back we can trace much of our personality and behavior to something happening before we had words, before the left brain.

Siegel says that identifying those emotions, those triggers and connecting them logically (and with kindness and acceptance) to the past can help bring the more logical left brain into the mix and take some of the emotional charge out, decreasing the input of the sometimes hyper-emotional right brain. 

But best of all, we aren't stuck with the brains we have.  The more we change our thought patterns, the more we change the way our brains are wired and the way we will think in the future.  

 

 

 

Befriending "The Checker"

I'm almost through the audiobook of Mindsight, by Daniel Siegel.  Such a great read (or in my case unabridged listen for lengthy commutes and boring dog walks).

One pearl that I heard today and particularly enjoyed was the notion of befriending your "checker".  He calls "the checker" that voice inside of you that contributes to stress, anxiety or negative self talk.  

Dr. Siegel says all of us have checkers and that they serve us very well from an evolutionary perspective.  These are the voices that make us aware danger is lurking and we need to be careful of something for our very survival. 

But when they are out of whack, these are the same inner talk messages that cause anxiety, overwhelm or depression. 

Some of us have louder, more hyper-vigalent checkers than others.  This can be the result of childhood traumas and/or genetic predispostion.  Indeed, regardless of upbringing, some of us are just more hardwired for louder checker chatter than others. 

What I like most about Dr. Siegel's approach is that he believes whenever there is stress or anxiety in life, rather than ignoring it or pushing it down -- you should "lean into it".  In other words, you acknowledge it.  You identify it.  And best of all, you befriend it -- you can even name it.

In one case study that he relates, his young patient gave named her checker, "Sam", short for Samantha. This particular client had a history of OCD-type thought patterns, more intense than anything that most of us have to deal with, but the technique is useful for most of us. 

Basically, during any times of emotional upset or over-reaction, this young girl learned how to "speak" to Sam.  She would acknowledge hearing exactly what Sam was trying to say and she would thank Sam for her well-intentioned attempts to protect her. 

However, she would also let her know matter-of-factly that she really didn't think that those perceptions matched the current reality and that she was fine and didn't need to act on Sam's suggestions right now.

Dr. Siegel says that by doing this we take more right-brained, emotionally-charged thinking and mediate it with more left-brained, Spock-like logic.  

The "mindsight" of the book's title is this ability to look at our emotions, identify them, embrace them as part of ourselves, but from a respectful distance.  According to Siegel this right and left brain integration can make all the difference in coping well with stress and getting greater satisfaction from life. 

Most incredibly, Siegel (a pioneer in neuroplasticity) says these shifts in thoughts overtime will actually re-wire the brain.  Effectively we can train our brains to function in a new way by the way we think.  These new thought patterns will cause better integration between our right and left hemispheres.

I like kindness and self-acceptance of thought process behind Dr. Siegel's approach and I'm going to try to implement it in my own life when I feel stressed about something.  I think it could be a very effective tool. 

Besides I'm always up for making new friends -- even imaginary ones ;-).

 

 

Dinner Box?

Looking for a quick and cheap dinner?  How about the $10 Dinner Box from Pizza Hut?

The company website says it, "includes one medium 1-topping pizza, 5 breadsticks with marinara dipping sauce, and 10 cinnamon sticks with icing - all in one convenient box". 

Well, it certainly is "convenient".  This way folks don't need to make too much effort to get Type II Diabetes or heart disease.  Everything you need is right there.  Saturated fat, check.  Sodium, check.  White flour, check.  White sugar, check.  

The only thing they might have left out was the "dinner" part.  You know the part with the nutrition.  Well, at least it's "convenient".   

Humbled By Bodyweight Training

Before we ever lifted a weight we just played.  We moved our bodies effortlessly through space.  There was no thought of "getting a workout in", you were just outside, running around, having fun with your friends. 

But as the years go on at some point in the journey we lose touch with our bodies and lifting weights and exercising on machines becomes easier and more natural.

At work I am currently involved in a bodyweight training initiative, so it's forcing me to look at my training in a new way.  I'm currently practicing my "animal flow" movements (trying to get ready for an upcoming training with Mike Fitch, creator of globalbodyweighttraining.com) and just 15 minutes of this stuff smokes me.   Two 5-hour days of it next weekend should prove interesting and by interesting I mean...humiliating.

Mike's story is a compelling one.  He's an accomplished personal trainer who woke up one day and decided he just couldn't deal with doing another "weight training workout".  He was bored, his body didn't feel or look the way he wanted it to, he needed to find a better way. 

From this frustration Mike started to look for ways to strength train without using anything but his own body weight.  He became a student of all things bodyweight.  His travels brought him to gymnastics, capoira and even break dancing.  Now just a few years later he has mastered a level of body control few adults can imagine and created a workout system which is both challenging -- and fun. 

It's a level of mastery that I can't quite image for myself today as I struggle on the floor doing what looks like a solo, boardless game of Twister for the terribly uncoordinated.  But I am laughing, learning something new and being re-introduced to myself.

Reading (Well, Actually Listening To) Mindsight By Daniel Seigel

Well, I'm about half way through about 11 hours of the book, Mindsight, by Daniel Seigel and I'm loving it...great for long commutes to work or dog walks with my Calvin. 

One of the pearls I've gotten from the book so far is his idea of what it takes to be "happy".  

The author believes that you can't be truly content if you're either living a chaotic lifestyle or you're too rigid and structured.  Balancing these two opposite ends of the spectrum is (to Seigel's mind) the key to contentment. 

If you think of people you know who just never seem to be happy -- or times in your own life where you weren't happy it's easy to see the simple truth of this. 

So lots more to ponder here...I'll keep you posted.

I Was Quoted Yesterday in The Daily Beast on The NYT Yoga Article

So much brouhaha about the recent NYT yoga article.  I weighed in with my views in a follow-up by The Daily Beast.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/10/yoga-instructors-push-back-at-new-york-times-article-on-injury-risk.html

Here's The Article I Wrote For Doctoroz.com

It's based on the apple and pear body shape segment I did with him that aired on Thursday.

 

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/breakthroughs-your-body-type

I was on Dr. Oz again this week doing a segment (2 parter) on body types...

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/biggest-body-breakthroughs-pt-2

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/biggest-body-breakthroughs-pt-3

 

 

The Death of Dummbells?

I was on NYC news channel NY1 today, featured in a story on why bodyweight training is so important.  The story is based on an article I wrote of our new "Q" blog called "The Death of Dumbbells".

The Death of Dumbbells? An Article I Wrote For The Equinox PT Newsletter

By Geralyn Coopersmith

In an age of technological innovation, fitness pros are going old school. It may seem counterintuitive, but numbered weight stacks, moveable seats and removable pins are increasingly taking a back seat to a decidedly low-tech sculpting apparatus: your body.

Selectorized machines (your classic circuit-training contraptions) were initially designed to idiot-proof exercises by preventing unwanted movements and forcing desired ones. The problem is that as they restrict our movements they hide our imbalances. This means that you can sometimes become stronger and more “fit” without ever addressing underlying physical compensations—which is a bit like building a perfect house on a flawed foundation. When we don’t address our limitations, we become vulnerable to overuse injuries and nagging aches and pains.

via www.equinox.com

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot!

 
Wow -- it's a steamy here in the Northeast!!   Day after day the three Hs -- hazy, hot and humid.

As an exercise physiologist, I'm a big believer in the importance of working out consistently --  all year long.  That said, EVERYONE (even the most fit among us) needs to modify their workouts in extreme heat and humidity.  Especially, when the weather first turns steamy and you're not acclimatized. 

Heat illness is more than just feeling "a little uncomfortable" from the noon day rays -- it can literally be a matter of life and death.  Heat illnesses range from the relatively harmless "heat cramps", to heat fatigue, to heat exhaustion to the potentially-fatal, heat stroke.

The body cools itself in two primary ways:

• By increasing blood flow to the skin so that heat is dissipated away from the body's core to the skin's surface.
• By increasing sweat production, so that the evaporation of sweat off the skin's surface can cool the body.

Heat (particularly with humidity) and exercise both compete with the body's ability to regulate body temperature within safe levels. 

Exercise challenges the body by demanding blood for working muscles.  So now your skeletal muscles are crying out for blood (for oxygen, nutrients and the removal of waste) at the same time your body is trying to keep you cool by bringing the blood to the skin's surface.  On top of that, exercise generates its own heat which also needs to be removed from the body.

Humidity further exacerbates this problem, because if the air is already full of water vapor (as it is on a humid day) there is less room in the air to take up the sweat on your skin.  So it just clings to you -- rather than cooling you as it evaporates.

And guess what?  Your body is smarter than you are.  Effectively your brain tells your body, "Hold on, Body -- apparently, we've got an idiot running in the noon day heat and humidity, let's shut her down before she overloads the system!"   And you experience that as heat illness.

The signs of heat illness, include:

• Muscle cramps (particularly in the hands, feet or calves)
• Excessive thirst
• Agitation
• Drenching sweats with cold and clammy skin
• Headache
• Nausea
• Confusion
• Feeling faint
• Slower heart rate

Signs of heat stroke (which is a medical emergency requiring immediate 911 assistance) include:

• Rapid heart beat
• Nausea and vomiting
• Hot, flushed dry skin
• Decreased sweating
• Decreased urination and/or blood in the urine
• High body temperature (104-106 degrees F)
• Convulsions
• Loss of consciousness
• Shortness of breath

With heat illness (as with most things in life) an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  So here are some tips for beating the heat -- before it beats you:

• Allow your body a chance to acclimatize to heat.  It takes at least 4-7 days for your body to adjust to the change in temp and about 2 weeks to get used to working out in the heat.
• Drink plenty of water.  Be sure to drink at least 4 oz. of water every 15-20 min.  Don't rely on your thirst to let you know when you need water.
• Avoid alcohol.  It dehydrates you.
• Add some salt to your food.  Salt helps the body retain water.
• Workout smart.  Exercise in the cooler times of day, either early AM or later PM when the sun's going down.  Consider taking your normal outside workout indoors in the AC until the heat breaks, especially if you must workout at midday.  Pace yourself.  Do not expect to workout as hard as you normally would.  It's not realistic -- or safe!
• Wear clothes that breath and wick moisture away from your body.  Microfiber clothing such as Cool-Max, can really help draw your sweat towards your skin and allow it to evaporate more easily -- keeping you cooler.   Cotton can get soggy and hold moisture against the skin -- impeding the evaporation process.
• Consider working out in the water.  Swimming, water polo, water aerobics, even treading water are all good workouts that keep your core temperature down and can even be done in the heat of the day -- another great summertime alternative to pounding the pavement in the heat.

Geralyn Coopersmith is an exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer with over 20 years of professional experience.  She is the National Director of The Equinox Fitness Training Institute (EFTI) and the author of Fit and Female: The Perfect Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type.  She has appeared on The Today Show, The Dr. Oz Show and The CBS Morning Show and she has been quoted in national magazines including: Elle, Shape, Self, Fitness, Health, More, Women's Health and many others.
 

 

 

 

One Nation, Overfed and Undernourished

I heard this phrase for the first time a few months ago while watching The Dr Oz Show.  It was said by a registered dietitian who was discussing the eating patterns of the morbidly obese.  I was struck by the power of the phrase & the sheer economy of words. 

Unfortunately, this phrase doesn't just apply to the morbidly obese.  It's also an accurate categorization of one of our nation's biggest health problems.   Specifically, that Americans are certainly, "well-fed" (i.e. not starving) but they don't eat "well".   Despite all this over consumption -- most of us are woefully undernourished.  

The fact is that there is very little nutritional value in most of the things we as a nation eat on any given day.

Consider that every year the average American eats:

•  29 lbs of French fries
•  23  lbs of pizza
•  24 lbs of ice cream
•  53 gallons of soda
•  24 lbs of artificial sweeteners
•  and 2.7 lbs of sodium (47% more than recommended)

Our bodies are designed to be fueled by "nutrient dense" foods.  Nutrient dense means that pretty much every calorie in whatever you're eating has value in fueling you for sustained energy and/or enhancing health & wellness. 

Unfortunately, more often than not food production in this country is about the systematic process of decreasing the nutritional value of food while increasing the number of calories in a given food while increasing its calorie count.  Hence the term "junk food".

The good news is that eating better doesn't have to be an overwhelming process.  It is really the result of making smarter choices every day -- one meal at a time.  Here are two rules that can help guide better food choices in almost any situation. 

1) Eat Close to Nature. The closer that any given food is to its natural source (i.e. being something you could identify as created by Mother Nature) the healthier it typically is for you.  The more production involved, typically the worse the nutritional bang for your caloric buck (i.e. calories added and nutrition removed).

2) Eat the Rainbow (I'm not talking about Skittles here).   When following Rule #1 try to eat food (fruits and veggies) with a wide variety of colors (particularly dark leafy greens and red/orange fruits and veggies).  Foods that are more vibrant in color tend to have better nutritional value.

Geralyn Coopersmith is an exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer with over 20 years of professional experience.  She is the National Director of The Equinox Fitness Training Institute (EFTI) and the author of Fit and Female: The Perfect Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type.  She has appeared on The Today Show, The Dr. Oz Show and The CBS Morning Show and she has been quoted in national magazines including: Elle, Shape, Self, Fitness, Health, More, Women's Health and many others.
 

Walking Their Talk: Does Your Trainer Need To Be "Shredded"?

 
"How important is it that my trainer look like he/she is in shape?"

As a twenty year veteran of the fitness world it's a question I've heard asked on more than one occasion by fitness professionals and potential clients alike. 

Well, in a world where (for better or worse) Jillian Michaels is the most famous personal trainer on the planet and where most of our clients come to use wanting to improve their appearance -- I'd say it's pretty important. 

That said, maybe ten years ago (6 certifications and masters degree in exercise physiology in hand) I think I might have argued to the contrary, that knowledge is everything and there are plenty of idiots who look good but really don't know what they are doing. 

The thing is, the two aren't mutually exclusive.  There is no reason that fitness professionals shouldn't have BOTH -- brains AND an appearance that might suggest they actually use some of this stuff.  

Now, certainly I'm not saying everyone has to have a "perfect body" (whatever that is).  But I do think that anyone who wants a career getting other people in shape should look like they use "the product" themselves.  

It's a little like going to a fat cardiologist who's smoking and eating a cheeseburger during your consultation.  It would be a little hard to take his advice (however well-informed) seriously.  It's the proverbial "physician heal thyself".

Nobody underscored this fact more to me then Martin Rooney, famed strength and conditioning expert (who also happens to be shredded like a head of lettuce).

Several years ago, I sat in on one of his lectures as he called out an entire room full of personal trainers and strength coaches.  He opened his speech with a challenge.    His question was essentially, how many of the fitness professionals in the room would feel comfortable stripping down into something revealing (bathing suit or whatever) and showing our bodies to everyone. 

When very few hands went up he asked, "well, what do you guys do for a living?" and as if we weren't shamed enough "why isn't every hand in this room up?".  Coach Rooney was calling us out for the disconnect between what we do for a living, what we tell our clients -- and whether or not our own bodies are a reflection of that. 

Given what I do for a living, clearly I value education.  I honestly don't think you can be a good trainer without a whole lot of training under your belt.  You can't be an idiot and be a top-notch fitness pro.  But, there is also a lot to be said for someone who inspires their clients by walking their talk -- actually applying what they know and becoing a living embodiment of what they preach. 

While nobody is perfect, as trainers I think we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard if we want to be respected and taken seriously.

 

Geralyn Coopersmith is an exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer with over 20 years of professional experience.  She is the National Director of The Equinox Fitness Training Institute (EFTI) and the author of Fit and Female: The Perfect Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type.  She has appeared on The Today Show, The Dr. Oz Show and The CBS Morning Show and she has been quoted in national magazines including: Elle, Shape, Self, Fitness, Health, More, Women's Health and many others.

Want To Keep Those Fitness Resolutions in 2011?

Happy New Year!!!  Have you started your 2011 fitness program?  Well, there's no time like the present.

Whether you are just starting out or looking to take it to the next level here are some tips I wrote for HealthyStyleNY.com on how to stay with the program in the New Year.

http://tinyurl.com/GsNewYearsTips