Dehydrated in Winter?

As a MELT instructor, I talk about hydration a lot. Water is what keeps the connective tissue happy and in good shape. I suggest to everybody to drink a glass of water after a class, and, from all I can see, everybody trots dutifully to the water fountain to get their fill.

With the latest cold spell, I noticed a change. Water bottles are not as common. To be honest, after a long walk with my dog, I feel more like a hot cup of tea than a glass of water.

But that’s the problem: warmer temperatures make us so much more likely to drink water. So we have to be a little more mindful that hydration is just as, if not more important in the colder days.

And it has an added benefit: everybody complains about the effects of heating on mucus membranes and the skin. So let’s get hydrated and improve all of the above.

Prost! To your health!

Being a Precinct Worker – Survival of the Fittest

Last Tuesday, I spent almost 16 hours at a precinct to help my follow citizens exercise their right to vote. I had done this in the past and have always looked at it as fun, though in a rather twisted kind of way.

The last Election Day was almost too much fun.

I was assigned to the help table and in a very busy precinct. As I was assisting voter after voter with little break, it struck me to which degree physical fitness can help to survive such a day.

We were a team of 10, all women. All of us had been to the mandatory training prior to the election and had been at the polling location the evening before to set up the polling place with the voting booths and all the tables and folding chairs. The morning of the election, we were all there before 6 AM to put the finishing touches on the location before the polls opened at 6:30 AM.

A line had already formed outside the precinct, and at the stroke of 6:30 AM the voters streamed into the polling place.

Being sent to the help table means that something is not as it should be, and people are usually not happy about it.  At best, it means a delay of a few minutes. There can be a line, and it may take a little while to figure out where the hang-up is in the process. The goal of a precinct worker is to help as accurately as possible, and checklists aplenty are provided to ensure that the processes are fully adhered to. There are so many fields to check and to initial! While each process seems straightforward and easy, the unrelenting stream of voters can cause an oversight. As the day progresses and fatigue sets in, one has to call on all reserves to get through it.

Most voters were very appreciative and gracious, some were impatient, some were suspicious, and some did not have a good understanding of the voting process. Well, and then there were a select few who …… well, how to put this politely, were …… not so very nice ………

When the day was over and I was at home, I took a physical inventory. Quite an interesting picture, and not one that I liked a lot. I got my roller and MELTed and also swung my rapid release device into action. Soon, all was well again.

What Makes us Human?

Quite a big questions to contemplate in a blog of a few paragraphs! Volumes have been written. But I will not be intimidated.

I had a spectacular day yesterday. In the afternoon, I went to see the ballet “Dracula” by the Carolina Ballet, and later in the evening I went to the North Carolina Symphony and had the great joy to listen to a concert that had me at the edge of my seat. I am also looking forward to going to the North Carolina Museum of Art to see the exhibit “Small Treasures” of Dutch and Flemish genre painting.

I am not writing this to brag what kind of a cultured person I am. Other people derive equal pleasure from completely different art forms and can only shudder at the list above.

But it makes me wonder whether our appreciation of art and beauty in the eyes of the beholder is not the very essence of what it means to be human.

I look at my dog who has so many qualities that you hope to find in another person. Unconditional love, loyalty and honesty are things you will find in any dog. And as I interact with Mr. Darcy through the course of the day, I appreciate his understanding of my ways which he has learned to read like a book. Yet for all this, I have never seen him react to a beautiful sunset or a wonderful piece of music in any peculiar way.

If this gift is truly unique to us, then we should treasure it as our very humanity and foster the application and appreciation of art in its many forms.

Walking with and for Hope

Today was the Walk for Hope, and I am happy to report that we had the largest team since we first participated in 1996 and raised the most money, about $2000.

The Foundation of Hope raises money for research of mental illnesses. Their support is unique. The foundation gives so-called seed money which enables researchers to do the preliminary work necessary to apply for grants from the CDC for larger studies. That way, a little goes along way, and the Foundation of Hope has, by this method, been responsible for millions of dollars spent on research.

Despite all the progress that has been made, mental illness still bears the stigma of people “just being crazy or making it all up”.  People will happily talk about any other ailment as long as somebody is willing to listen, yet mental health is under an embargo.

Yet, just about all of us know a person suffering from mental illness. It can be difficult to deal with a person thus afflicted. We often lack the right words in the face of physical disability, and mental illness leaves us even more befuddled as to what to do or what to say. So we look away and pretend not to see. Understandable? Yes. But should we not approach this with as much compassion as we have towards those who suffer from a physical illness?

It’s worth a try.

Rapidly Released

Whenever I am coming back from the IDEA World Fitness Convention, I bring something back. I always come back with new ideas and great information. More often than not, it is also something to touch and feel from a small relatively inexpensive gadget to something much larger and much more expensive. This year I was able to combine the two virtues: small AND expensive. But what a thing we got!

At this time already nicknamed the ‘Magic Machine’ it is a tool from Rapid Release Technology. This thing is about the size of a hand-held kitchen mixer and provides a very specific rate and depth of vibration which breaks up scar tissue and adhesions and has a wonderfully relaxing effect when applied to sore necks and shoulders. If you want to find out more, you can go to their website www.rapidreleastech.com.

I am usually suspicious when something seems too good to be true, and before I part with a large amount of money, I need to be convinced that this is legit. When I roamed the expo hall, the people manning the booth hailed me over and asked whether I had a place on my body that hurts. As a matter of fact, I had. There was a place in my neck that had resisted the combined effort of MELT, my rolfer and my chiropractor (even though it had gotten better through all of the above). Within 5 minutes, this spot felt A LOT better. I went back to the booth a few hours later for another dose and then got out my credit card. Had to have it!

It’s been in constant use at the studio ever since we had it. With regular application, this thing can perform minor (and, in my case, major) miracles.  It is a bit on the noisy side which makes it even more surprising that there is another person in the studio who gets a daily dose of vibration: Mr. Darcy, my beloved dog.

An Ode to IDEA

Last month’s conference was probably the 30^th IDEA conference I have attended. I have lost count but it’s somewhere there in the neighborhood.

As I reflect on the impact those conferences had on my growth as a trainer, their value cannot be overstated. There was much I saw and liked and some I saw and disliked. But the main point is that I was exposed to it and could form my own opinion.

The fitness industry has changed dramatically over the last 20 years since I have been a trainer. Some things are still the same, and they also have still validity. If I trained my clients the way I did 20 years ago, I would not do them a disservice. They would get stronger and thus hopefully healthier. But having experienced all the developments and picked the ones that work for me has enabled me to become the trainer I am today. I could not possibly have read myself into that knowledge. Being able to see and feel is what makes the difference.

As such, I am grateful that the founders of IDEA, Peter and Kathie Davis, for their vision of a fitness organization of the kind that IDEA has become over the years. 

HIIT and Run

So! HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is all the rage. I would call it outrageous.

I just returned from the 2014 IDEA World Fitness Convention, full of motivation and ready to continue helping my clients towards better health and fitness. And one thing is for sure: HIIT will not have any place in my programming.

I took two classes; one with a ViPR, the other one with a new machine called CoreStix. Ultimately, the type of device is irrelevant, but the style of training is.

HIIT has made the headlines because it ‘burns more calories’ in a shorter period of time, and, in today’s environment, who would not want a shortcut. The premise is that one does one or a series of exercises for a short period of time as fast as possible to exhaustion, then rest, and repeat. Perfect form, we are told, is actually detrimental because in real life we do not align our bodies in the correct way and move 100 % correct. (And I can see that argument – to a point.)

What I have seen in my two sessions was the following: a room full of fitness professionals all of whom without a doubt in complete knowledge on how to perform exercises well, being cheered on by the presenter and by motivating music to give it their all. And give it they did. As exhaustion set in, form was lost. However, the amount of resistance remained the same. In the heat of the moment, it was not easy to quickly find suitable modifications to make the exercises more appropriate. Fortunately, I have reached a stage in my life where I can leave my ego safely in the coat check and only do what feels right, no matter how much somebody may shout “Faster, faster”.

My conclusion: fast tempo coupled with resistance is a recipe for injury. It does not matter whether it is called Tabata, HIIT or CrossFit.