♦J♦U♦N♦E♦
Need to be a better multi-tasker? Get fit! Chronic stress promotes cardiovascular
disease and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Stress increases levels of the stress
hormone cortisol, which promotes fat deposition, suppresses the immune system, and speeds the
progression of arterial disease. Physical fitness might help fight the physiological effects of stress.
Heather Webb from Mississippi State University and co-workers found that fit people showed
lower cortisol levels during simultaneous physical and mental stress. Test subjects were asked to
perform mental tasks during exercise. Physically fit people showed lower anxiety and cortisol levels than unfit people. Fight stress by staying physically active. –Medicine Science Sports Exercise, 45: 379-386, 2013
Share It!
It’s tempting to keep healthy aims under wraps in case you
screw up, but making them public increases your odds of success, according to research from the University of Hertfordshire
in the UK. “Knowing that other people are watching helps hold
you accountable and gives you an audience to share your successes with,” says Vonda Wright, M.D., a Fitness Advisory
board member and the author of Guide to Thrive: Four Steps to
Body, Brains and Bliss.
How Clean is your Smartphone?
Smartphones are breeding grounds for germs
because they are warm and come in contact
with many surfaces. They can easily
transmit colds, flu and stomach
bugs. You can prevent the spread of
disease via your phone by washing
your hands regularly particularly
after going to the toilet.
Keep your cell phone in your pocket when not
using it. Setting it down on random surfaces
attracts unwanted germs. Cleaning your phone
can be dicey. Overzealously cleaning it with alcohol might damage the phone’s touch screen.
Good phone cleaning products include Monster
CleanTouch by Sony, ZAGGfoam Gadget Cleaning Kit and Fellowes Touch Screen Cleaning
Sachets.
-Beckett Guide to Phone Apps, January 2013
Time Matters
Being someone who
lunches early could pay off
on the scale. According to
a new study, dieters who
ate their midday meal before 3 p.m. lost 22 pounds in
four weeks, while those who ate later
dropped only 17. The researchers aren’t
sure why (both groups consumed the same
number of calories), but until they have the
answers, time your lunch so it falls about
halfway between breakfast and dinner.
—Source: International Journal of Obesity
Fast Music = Fast Workout
People slow down and speed up according to their
music. Many studies have shown this, the latest being
from Liverpool John Moores University in Britain. To
ensure that your pace is quick to get the most out of
your workout, make sure your Ipod is loaded with fast
tunes that you enjoy! When you can, bring your own
music because that will be more motivating than stuff you don’t know or that
is the wrong tempo for your workout!
Page 1 June ‘13
Want to try minimalists? Start with baby steps to work your way there
Running in superplush sneaks may baby your feet, but they give your legs a beating, experts say. “When you
have cushioning in the heel, you tend to land on your heel because it’s comfortable to do so. This strike increases
the force of the impact on your body,” says Irene Davis, Ph.D. the director of Harvard Medical School’s Spaulding
National Running Center. To keep you on (the balls of) your feet, try Davis’s simple steps to going low foam in a
more minimal sneaker.
Lose the shoes: To nudge yourself into the right strike zone-mid to forefoot rather than
heel-spend a few minutes at a time running barefoot on a firm surface. A smooth stretch
of sidewalk is idea for this, Davis says.
Tone below the knees: Subtracting support from your shoes means the muscles in your
feet and calves have to take on more work, Davis says. Build them up with single-leg calf
raises and arch domes (while barefoot, press your toes into the floor without curling them
then raise your arch). Do 30 reps of each exercise per leg every day.
Think small: Shorter strides help you land with your foot under your rather than way out in front, reducing the tendency to
heel strike. Aim to increase your number of strides per minute and you’ll naturally take shorter steps: Count how many
strides you take in 10 seconds, then, maintaining the same pace, try to gradually increase the number by 2.
—Source: fitness magazine, June 2013
Week 1
Weeks 2 & 3
Weeks 4 & 5
Week 6
Week 7
Follow your usual
running routine
in your regular
shoes, but go
barefoot around
the house for at
least 30 minutes
a day and practice calf raises
and arch domes.
On day one, walk 30 minutes in your minimalist
shoes. Day 2 divvy up the
30 minutes by alternating
9 minutes of walking with
1 minute of jogging. Rest
on day 3. Repeat 2 days on,
one day off, taking 1 minute from the walking portion and adding it to the
jogging portion until you’re
walking 1 minute and
jogging 9. If you feel any
pain take a day of rest and
pick up where you left off.
Run easy in your
minimalist shoes
every other day
starting with 12
minutes. Then
add 2 to 3 minutes every other
run until you’re
up to 20 minutes.
Run easy four
times this week;
start at 25 minutes for the first
two runs, then
do 30 minutes
for the next two.
Run up to five times
this week, increasing
total distance by as
much as 10 percent.
So if you ran 30 minutes in week six, go
for 33 minutes this
week. Continue until
you’re running as
much as you can
while feeling comfortable in your minimalists.
Try to move more throughout your day
Spending hours a day sitting in front of the television or computer is bad for your health-according to a
Dutch study from Maastricht University led by Bernard Duvivier. Sitting 14 hours per day increased insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides, which increased the risk of heart attack and stroke. Sitting for 13 hours a
day and exercising vigorously for one hour was less effective for improving metabolic health
than sitting for six hours and walking at a moderate intensity for four hours. The take-home
message is to stay moderately active throughout the day. Short periods of intense exercise
do not compensate for hours of inactivity.
–PlosOne, published online February 13, 2013
Page 2 June ‘13