Resting Heart Rate Research

In the beginning of February, I launched an indoor cycling class at The Landings Club called “Heart Rate Ride.”  Training within certain heart rate boundaries can result in very specific health and fitness benefits.   So the cyclist, who is strongly advised to wear a chest-strap heart rate monitor in class, learns those boundaries which create a health-, or an endurance-, or a performance-related response.  Every rider also learns how to use their heart rate monitor to measure their own resting heart rate (RHR), and to incorporate the RHR to find their estimated target heart rate range using the newly revised Karvonen formula.  They can apply their target heart rate range to all their cardio-vascular exercise and activities, and manipulate their intensity levels to better reach their fitness goals.

Whew.

Upon learning their RHR, most clients will come and ask me, “Is that good?”  And my honest answer, up until now, has been, “Well, it is all relative, I’ve never heard of a definite link between RHR and heart health.  But as your fitness improves and your heart grows stronger, your RHR usually decreases, and that, relatively speaking, is good.” 

Until now.  Research published in American Heart Journal lends some long awaited clarity to the question, “What’s a good resting heart rate?”   The study tracked over 21,000 middle-aged adults for an average of 12 years, which is a nice, long retrospective study period.  The results indicated that women with a RHR above 90 beats per minute were three times more likely to die of heart disease during the study than those with a rate below 60 beats a minute. Men with rates above 90 were twice as likely to die of heart disease.  The results were consistent when adjusted for age, gender, total cholesterol, physical activity (categorical), systolic blood pressure, body mass index, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (aka “good cholesterol”).

There’s a little more food for thought in here.  Women’s heart rates are typically higher than men’s, because our hearts usually aren’t as large and therefore have to beat more often to pump the blood around.  Look at those numbers in the paragraph above with that in mind.  Women might not have as far to climb to get over 90 beats per minute, and likely have to work harder to get the heart strong enough to drop below 60 beats per minute.  So, ladies and gentlemen, get with me here, we really need to get fit and keep those hearts strong to get that RHR number down.

Reference: Am Heart J. 2010 Jul;160(1):208. Laatikainen, Tiina

Fish, Fish Oil, Krill, Mercury, and More

According to Dr. Mark Hyman, nearly all Americans are deficient in heart-healthy omega-3 fats.  These aren’t the only type of omega fats which are important to your optimal health, but they are the ones you hear about the most. 

You also hear a lot about fish oil supplements, prescription medications made from fish oil, and high mercury levels found in many types of the fish we usually consume.

To help make your fish and fish oil decision making a little bit easier, I want to pass along this PDF format report I received this week.  One of the authors of the report, Jayson Hunter, also happens to be marketing a krill oil supplement product.  So you’ll find the last few pages are highly promotional for his product.

I am not endorsing the krill oil product.

But I do find much of the content of the report compelling, and I think you’ll find the chart on page 15 is particularly handy for choosing the low-mercury varieties of fish.

If you are not eating either “fatty” fish, walnuts, eggs, or grass fed meats at least once every day, then you are probably omega-3 deficient.  And if you can’t eat any one of those things every day – whether you are allergic or a vegetarian or you just plain don’t like them – then quality supplements could be a good idea.**

Great information on quality supplements from an independent testing laboratory can be found at http://www.consumerlabs.com/.

Here’s the link to get your own copy of the report.  It’s lengthy but worthwhile reading:

http://athletesacceleration.getprograde.com/viewpdffile/What-Your-Doctor-Never-Told-You-About-FishOil.pdf

Now you say to yourself (after you’ve looked at the chart on page 15), “Self,” you say, “have I been eating so much contaminated fish that I might have mercury poisoning and not even know it?”

Well, that’s a perfectly reasonable question.  There are other ways to become overexposed to mercury, too.  So as a special bonus, I’m going to turn you on to a very comprehensive article from the aforementioned Dr. Hyman about mercury toxicity and how to recover from it. 

http://drhyman.com/how-to-rid-your-body-of-mercury-and-other-heavy-metals-a-3-step-plan-to-recover-your-health-523/

**Extra-extra-extra-special bonus tip from Trainer Jane:  Get advice from your doctor, AND your pharmacist, AND a good lab where you can get blood and urine analysis done to determine your own unique deficiencies or toxicities before you take any supplement beyond a basic multivitamin.  You may already be on a medication that can cause an adverse reaction when combined with a supplement, or have a condition that could be worsened by one.

Here in Savannah, Brighter Day Natural Foods on

Park Ave.

provides great resources for local labs which perform this type of testing.

The more you know about your own individual needs, the better you can personalize your optimal health plan.

Be Well!

$*&)%$)!! My Mom Emails Me

This weekend my mother sent me an email which she had received from a friend, who had received it from another friend.  It was entitled, "Dr. Oz On Eating Fruit."  Mother is cautious about the emails she sends me about fitness and nutrition, she gets a lot of these things from her friends.  But this one made a lot of sense to her and she thought I might find it very interesting.

Oh, I found it interesting, all right.  First, the way it was displayed on the page didn't have any of the hallmarks of a marketing email format one would expect of Dr. Oz, fabulous television personality and remarkably level-headed health advisor to millions. 

Second, it was full of misinformation.

After reading it all the way through, and then huffing-puffing-snorting a bit, I went to Dr. Oz's website to see if this attribution was correct.  Sure enough, there were no articles or discussions on his website which matched the content of this email.  Check out DoctorOz.com when you get a chance yourself, there's a great deal of quality content and Q & A there.

Then I spent some quality time on the phone with my mother, and dissected the email with her so she could learn more about what nutritional approaches are appropriate for her conditions. 

Check The Sources.  If you get an email that isn't from Dr. Oz, or Dr. Jones or Dr. Doolittle for that matter, but claims to be approved by that individual, double check that attribution.  For instance, when I forward information which I deem valuable from Dr. Mark Hyman, I usually include the direct link to his website so there's no confusion about the source.  Verify.

Here's some of the info my mother sent me... with my commentary IN ALL ITALIC CAPS.  Enjoy the lunacy.  BE WELL! TJ


"EATING FRUIT" 
"We all think eating fruit means just buying fruit, cutting it up and popping it into our mouths. It's not that easy. It's important to know how and when to eat fruit.

What's the correct way to eat fruit?

IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUIT AFTER A MEAL! FRUIT SHOULD BE EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH."   (IF YOU HAVE DIABETES, HECK EVEN IF YOU DON'T, IT'S ACTUALLY HEALTHIER TO HAVE A SMALL AMOUNT OF PROTEIN OR FAT ALONG WITH YOUR SERVING OF FRUIT. IT SLOWS THE SPIKE IN YOUR BLOOD SUGAR.) 

"Eating fruit like that plays a major role in detoxifying your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.

FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD."  (ALL PLANT FOODS ARE IMPORTANT, NOT JUST FRUIT. AND BALANCED EATING IS IMPORTANT.)

"Let's say you eat two slices of bread, then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it's prevented from doing so."  (ALL CARBOHYDRATES HERE.  THE SIMPLE PROCESSED CARBOHYDRATE IN THE BREAD WILL DIGEST PARTICULARLY FAST, AND SO WILL THE FRUIT.)

"In the meantime, the whole meal rots and ferments, and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach, and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil." (THE LAST TIME I CHECKED, YOUR STOMACH IS AND SHOULD BE AN ACID PIT. FOOD GETS CHURNED ABOUT AND BEGINS BREAKING DOWN THERE. FOOD DOESN'T "SPOIL" IN YOUR STOMACH IN THE PRESENCE OF FRUIT ACIDS, AS IF YOU LEFT IT ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER FOR A WEEK.)

"When you need to drink fruit juice drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT the concentrated juice from the cans. Don't drink juice that has been heated. Don't eat cooked fruit; you don't get the nutrients at all. You get only the taste. Cooking destroys all of the vitamins." (NOT ALL OF THEM, AND NOT COMPLETELY.  GIVEN A CHOICE BETWEEN NO FRUIT OR COOKED FRUIT, HAVE THE COOKED.)
 "Drinking Cold water after a meal = Cancer!"   (OMG, SERIOUSLY???)

"Can you believe this? For those who like to drink cold water, this applies to you. It's nice to have a cold drink after a meal, however, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you've just consumed, which slows digestion." (OK. POP QUIZ.  HOW HOT IS YOUR MOUTH? AVERAGE 98.6F DEGREES.  HOW HOT IS YOUR ESOPHAGUS?  AND YOUR STOMACH, THE AFOREMENTIONED ACID PIT? RIGHT, HOTTER.  SO HOW COLD IS THAT WATER GOING TO STAY AND FOR HOW LONG?  ANSWER: NOT LONG ENOUGH TO HARDEN ANY FATS IN YOUR STOMACH.)  "Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal."  (IN FACT, WATER AIDS DIGESTION. ACCORDING TO THIS, FAT IN YOUR INTESTINE = CANCER. WHICH, FRANKLY, IS ABSURD.  THIS ARTICLE IS DRIVING ME NUTS.  FAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABSORBED THROUGH YOUR INTESTINES.  AND THERE ARE MANY HEALTHY TYPES OF FAT.)

Update 2/20/11:  According to Ayurvedic medicine, drinking iced water during a meal slows the "digestive fire."  No mention of turning stomach contents to sludge or fat into cancer.  However, Ayurvedic does promote non-iced water during and after meals as a digestive aid, and suggests optimal meal composition as two thirds solids and one third liquid. 

“LaLanneisms”

I can’t even really believe that Jack LaLanne has passed away.  You know what they say, though, it isn’t a matter of if, it’s about when and how.

Ninety six years is a good ripe age, and he enjoyed a very high quality of life. 

I remember so clearly watching Jack LaLanne’s television show when I went to visit my grandmother’s house.  It’s not clear to me why we never watched in our own home, maybe I was in school or someone in the house who was older than I took charge of the boob-tube when his show was on.  Sometimes I’d exercise along with him and sometimes, ironically (though I was too young to know I was being ironic), I’d just lie on the floor and listen.

It would be overreaching to say he was an inspiration to me in my choice to lead an active lifestyle, or to pursue a career in fitness education.  But he was wonderfully handy to point to as living example of what one can accomplish with disciplined exercise and healthy eating.  It is no small feat for a man in his 80’s to swim across San Francisco Bay, towing several of his closest friends behind him in a row boat.

Jack didn’t drink coffee, but he did partake of red and white wine.  So, a toast to the memory and the mission of Jack LaLanne!  May his words, deeds, and spirit be inscribed in the book of life.

Here are a few of Jack’s words of wisdom:

• Anything in life is possible and you can make it happen.
• Your waistline is your lifeline.
• Exercise is King, nutrition is Queen, put them together and you’ve got a kingdom.
• Don’t exceed the feed limit.
• The food you eat today is walking and talking tomorrow.
• Ten seconds on the lips and a lifetime on the hips.
• Better to wear out than rust out.
• Do – don’t stew.
• People don’t die of old age, they die of inactivity.
• First we inspire them, then we perspire them.
• You eat everyday, you sleep everyday, and your body was made to exercise everyday.
• Work at living and you don’t have to die tomorrow.
• I can’t die, it would ruin my image. [Whoops.-JO]
• If man makes it, don’t eat it.
• If it tastes good, spit it out.
• What’s it doing for me?
• Your health account is like your bank account: The more you put in, the more you can take out.
• If one apple is good, you wouldn’t eat 100.
• It’s not what you do some of the time that counts, it’s what you do all of the time that counts.
• Make haste slowly.
• Eat right and you can’t go wrong.

A Magical Marathon



High fives at the finish!



Fair warning, this is a long post.

I planned on a winter marathon, and by golly I worked my plan and planned my work and ran that baby.  If you've not completed or competed in an endurance event before, it's hard to understand why one would put oneself through the arduous training, the black toenails, the mysterious aches and pains, the conscious eating... and the fear of doing something wrong along the way to foil the plan. 

Talking in the gym about the marathon training with a runner friend of mine, someone piped in, "Oh, I hear that marathon running is very bad for your heart and your knees."  Well, each of us has a different body and mine tolerates long distance running fairly well.  It's not for everyone.  I've read the research about the impact of marathoning on the body.  Proper long term training, proper nutrition, and adequate rest are essential to minimizing heart damage, orthopaedic damage, any injury.  As usual, safe progressions and good biomechanics are the keys to proper training.  It also helps if running feeds your soul, as it does mine.

Every minute of every day is a risk.  We wrap ourselves in a blanket of some kind of security and then, as my friend Ellie likes to say, we tip our horns down like a bull and just go.  The reward at the end, the sense of being able to do something you were not entirely convinced you could, is a great feeling.  To top that off, Disney World Marathon is a huge fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and it certainly feels good to make that contribution.

Once upon a time I was convinced I could never run a marathon.  Then again, I was at one time certain I would never run more than five miles.  Then I went to New York City to witness my friend Ellie (the aforementioned bull) run the marathon to mark her 40th birthday.  I was completely enthralled and ultimately the idea took root in my noggin that I could marathon, too.  Ellie is also a client (with asthma) who went from walking to running to marathoning in about 5 years of training -- you get the idea, she's a driven sort.

Disney World Marathon, January 9, 2011.  Orlando is not supposed to experience 40 degree temps, but it did.  I once swore never to run a marathon with more than 10,000 entrants, but I did.  My running buddies from New York and I were slated to run together, but we didn't (though we did fuel up together the night before :-).  I trained to be able to finish the marathon in 3 hours 50 minutes, but I didn't.  All of this made it an exceptional day... and it was a terrific experience in spite of all those shifted expectations!

Race day is a good day to let go of expectations.  Stay positive but go with your gut.  Sixteen weeks of plenty-difficult combinations of speed, tempo, and distance running workouts through Georgia heat and Georgia rain and Georgia snow (!) leaves you marathon-distance ready.  But every day is a new day, every race a new logistical experience.  Seventeen thousand runners need to be delivered to one start line a full hour and a half before the race begins so the roads on the course are not clogged with vehicles.  Disney did its level best to distract us all from how little fun there is to be had in that part.

An hour and a half of standing and shuffling in 40 degree temps and you can't feel your feet for the first four miles.  At least, that's what happened to me.  No feeling in feet = no keeping race pace.  Just one of those things.  When I saw how slow my time was for the first 5 miles compared to my race goal, I decided it to leave it be.  I was afraid of turning an ankle on those numb feet, and cranky about training all those weeks alone and then racing alone even while surrounded by 16,999 friends I hadn't met yet.  I couldn't make up that time and stay on pace the rest of the run and have any fun.

In letting it go, believe me, there was a lot of fun to be had!  It's Disney World, for crying out loud!  There was actually a young spectator on the course, around mile 11, announcing over and over, "this is the Magic Kingdom, the happiest place on earth, why aren't you all smiling?"  LOL!

Some people run with iPods and MP3 players.  Maybe because I'm a musician, I have songs in my head, and some very specific songs that help me keep my race pace. So I don't partake of the iPod.  But Disney has live musicians and musical accompaniment to Disney costumed characters and recordings blasting nearly every single mile along the way.  The volume control in my head can't compete with that.  And then there's the theme parks...enchanting, engaging, all those words Disney loves to use in its marketing messages.  Was I tickled pink when I ran through Cinderella's Castle?  You betcha.  Did I get a kick out of Lucille Ball's commentary on the street in Disney Hollywood?  Abso-tively-Posi-lutely.  The green Army guy from Toy Story was a raging riot -- who wants to race by and miss anything!??

For the first time in my marathoning history, which began in 1999, I didn't hit the wall.   I had the energy to sing along and "arm-dance" while I was running to "Whip It" at mile 9 and "Sweet Caroline" at mile 21.  Felt so good at the finish I started disco dancing, right after the high-five with Donald Duck.  Even with the frozen start, I was well fueled and well hydrated and thrilled to feel like I coasted through the 26.2, compared to previous marathons.  Though I shared hugs and thrills with pals Diane and Jerry among the roadside spectators at mile 21, I still couldn't find my friends in the throngs at the finish.  But my family found me dancing around at the finish line and it was amazing to share with them.  My dad was particularly overcome, because he always wanted to try to run a marathon and never did.  He's to blame, his are the legs I inherited.  Running with him when I was a kid allowed me to put off the chores at home with mom, but the thinking time and physical outlet for stress made me an addict.

Ever goal oriented am I, and I have the Savannah Rock and Roll Marathon in November to look forward to.  When you find a training scheme that works, you can't help but to do it again!  But for now I'm happy to rest and heal a little, get back on my bicycle without fear of screwing up some running schedule, and forgive myself for not making my goal of 3:50.  Color me Coral -- the nail polish shade that's covering my black toenails!

Mindset Matters

This published in the journal Psychological Science:  "In a study testing whether the relationship between exercise and health is moderated by one's mind-set, 84 female room attendants working in seven different hotels were measured on physiological health variables affected by exercise. Those in the informed condition were told that the work they do (cleaning hotel rooms) is good exercise and satisfies the Surgeon General's recommendations for an active lifestyle. Examples of how their work was exercise were provided. Subjects in the control group were not given this information.

Although the subjects’ actual behavior did not change, 4 weeks after the intervention, the informed group perceived themselves to be getting significantly more exercise than before. As a result, compared with the control group, they showed a decrease in weight, blood pressure, body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass index. These results support the hypothesis that exercise affects health in part or in whole via the placebo effect."

So if you believe it, you can be it.  To me, an important factor coming out of this study is the external motivation of information and specific examples of how the subjects' work was exercise.  That information was transformed into an intrinsic perception that they were getting more exercise than before.

I would love to get my hands on one of those exceptionally comprehensive charts that documents the k/calorie per hour and metabolic equivalency figures for activites from archery to standing in the kitchen cooking, and from bathing to dancing the twist.  And I when I do, I will give copies to all my clients so they can see how much exercise they are getting everyday, and so they can be mindful of the difference their everyday movement can make.  In addition to their regular exercise, of course.  And I'm going to swipe that little plaque my father kept on his desk at IBM for 32 years which read:  THINK.  And I'm going to wear it around my neck every day to work.  (You may not believe me... just you wait....)  Then we’ll all think ourselves to healthier bodies!

Be Well!

Staying Active-It's Not Just for Physical Therapy Month Anymore!

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE November 9, 2010

October was National Physical Therapy Month.  As part of Spine & Sport’s observance there were regular Facebook postings encouraging family-oriented physical fitness and wellness activity.  There is no longer any doubt, at least from a research-based health perspective, that exercise is medicine.  Movement has a healing effect on all of the body’s systems.

There is no such thing as a perfect month of the year, nor day of the week nor time of the day for that matter, to get moving.  There may be optimal times in your schedule, or when the weather is particularly nice.  But I encourage you to increase your daily activity, the time spent on your feet pumping your legs.  And I beg you to incorporate at least 2 or 3 days per week of vigorous exercise or sport into your life.  It will improve the quality of your life, your outlook on life, and the spring in your step.  Do it with your family and you will instill in your children a lifelong appreciation for play, sport, and the amazing capabilities of their bodies.

Example from Trainer Jane’s life story:  My father jogged 3 times or more a week, beginning in the early 70’s, right around the time Nike sneakers first became widely available.  I chose to go with him to avoid doing chores around the house, I’ll admit it.  Since I wasn’t particularly good at any of the sports my brothers participated in, it was something special my Dad and I could enjoy together.  Although I fell out of the habit in my teens, there came a time in my life when I wanted to get active again and the nostalgia I felt for running brought me back.  And I have since had the distinct honor of teaching dozens of others to enjoy running, anywhere from 2 to 26.2 miles.  Thanks, Dad.

Here is a wonderful fitness event in which the whole family can participate.  It’s Savannah’s Annual Turkey Trot.  If you are in town on Thanksgiving morning, this is the place to be seen, my friends!  Here is the website link for more information:

 http://www.active.com/running/savannah-ga/2nd-annual-united-way-turkey-trot-2010

It’s got everything from a Diaper Dash to a walk to a 5K run.  It’s good for you and your loved ones and for the local chapter of the United Way.  It’s a perfect way to build a hearty appetite for the traditional Thanksgiving feast (as if anyone needs helps with that).  For you turkey eaters, it’s the perfect balance to the tryptophan-feuled lethargy you’ll experience after the big meal!  If you plan on giving back to the community even more that day by volunteering to deliver Thanksgiving meals or staffing a food pantry feast, the Turkey Trot will get your legs and lungs all primed and ready for the good work to follow.

Oh, yes, and I just happen to specialize in helping people finish 5K runs.  Doesn’t this sound like a fun goal?  No, it is not an oxymoron to refer to a run as fun.  Just try it, you’ll gain a whole new perspective on the holiday season and on having an active lifestyle your whole family can enjoy.