Injury and Exercise

Ever had a problem with a knee , an elbow, a hip or ankle? How do you still exercise without doing more damage to yourself? While I look into yoga a bit more- here's an interesting and helpful article.

The right choice of exercises can ease osteoarthrits pain and stiffness, without causing more damage to joints.

When you first start an exercise plan for osteoarthritis, you may not know exactly where to begin and which exercises are appropriate for you. Discuss options with your doctor and other health-care professionals, and make sure that your routine contains the three basic parts of a complete program : flexibility, strengthening and aerobic activities. Arrange your program to include these three types of exercise in ways that match your physical capabilities and your fitness goals.

Flexibility/Range-of-Motion Exercises
Flexibility exercises (also called range-of-motion or stretching exercises) keep your muscles stretched and your joints moving freely. Think of these exercises as the foundation of your program because flexibility is necessary for comfortable movement during exercise and daily activities. Flexibility exercises also reduce the risk of sprains and strains.
Flexibility exercises should be done gently and smoothly, usually every day. You may be familiar with this type of exercise as a “warm up,” because these moves are recommended before performing any vigorous type of exercise.
If you have been inactive for a while, or if you have stopped exercising temporarily because of your arthritis, these exercises are a good way to begin your fitness program. Start by building up to a daily routine of 15 minutes of flexibility exercises. When you are able to do 15 continuous minutes, you should have the mobility and endurance needed to begin adding strengthening and aerobic exercise to your program. If stiffness is a problem for you, consider taking a hot bath or shower before exercising to help “loosen up” joints.

Strengthening Exercises
Exercises that increase muscle strength and endurance are the second important component of your fitness program. Joint swelling, pain, and lack of use can weaken muscles. If you have arthritis, strong muscles are particularly important to help absorb shock, support joints and protect you from injury. You need strong muscles to climb stairs, walk safely, lift and reach.
Studies have found that among people with osteoarthritis, the ability to extend the knee often decreases in both the knee affected by the disease and the unaffected knee. In addition, reduced strength in the lower body is linked with increased disability from osteoarthritis. Fortunately, research has also shown that strengthening muscles in the knee, hip and ankle leads to improved balance and increased independence.
Strengthening exercises (also called resistance exercises) make your muscles work harder by adding weight or resistance to movement. Flexibility exercises can become strengthening exercises when you increase the speed, increase the number of repetitions, or add weight (resistance) to the exercise. The two types of strengthening exercises are isometric and isotonic exercises. During isometric exercises, you strengthen the muscles by tightening them without moving your joints. Isotonic exercises are just the opposite: You strengthen the muscles by moving your joints.
The goal of a strengthening program is to overload your muscles just enough so they adapt by becoming stronger. This can be done by adding hand-held or wrap-around weights, using elastic bands, or using the weight of your body. You can use weight machines or the resistance of water in pool exercises. But avoid overloading muscles so much that they are sore and stiff for a day or two after exercising.
If you have active inflammation or if your doctor has warned you to protect certain joints, check with a therapist about which strengthening exercises are best and safest for you. If you have been inactive, start by doing 15 minutes of flexibility exercises before you attempt the strengthening ones. When you begin, you’ll want to start with no weights or very light weights, and gradually add weight as you feel stronger.

Aerobic (Cardiovascular) Exercises
Aerobic exercise includes a wide variety of physical activities, not just the popular classes set to jazzy beats offered at most health clubs. Also known as endurance or cardiovascular exercises, aerobic exercises use the body’s large muscles in cadenced, continuous motions. Swimming, walking, swing dancing, riding a bicycle and even raking leaves are all aerobic exercises.
Aerobic exercise is the third component of your exercise routine. It makes your heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles work more efficiently. Aerobic exercise is key to achieving overall health. It reduces your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. By making aerobic exercise a regular part of your routine, you may improve endurance and sleep, reduce the effects of stress, strengthen bones and control weight.
You should include some type of aerobic exercise three to four times in your weekly fitness routine. Aim to work within your target heart rate – usually about 60 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate – for 30 minutes each session.
If you find that you cannot exercise continuously for 30 minutes, progress to this level slowly. Begin by gradually increasing your activity for five minutes, continue with five minutes of activity in your recommended heart range, then decrease activity for five minutes. Once you have mastered this routine, increase the length of activity in your target range.
• Walking. This is an excellent type of aerobic exercise for almost everyone. Walking requires no special skills and is inexpensive. You will need a good pair of supportive walking shoes, however. You can walk almost anytime and anywhere. Many towns now have mall walking clubs, providing a safe place to exercise no matter what the weather is like outside.
• Water exercise. Swimming and exercising in warm water are especially good for stiff joints and sore muscles. Water helps support your body while you move your joints through their range of motion. Swimming is highly recommended because little stress is placed on your joints. In many cities, the Arthritis Foundation offers an aquatics exercise program designed for people with arthritis. Call your local Arthritis Foundation chapter or check with your local YMCA or health club to see if this class is offered.
• Bicycling. Cycling on a stationary bicycle is a good way to get aerobic exercise without placing much stress on your hips, knees or feet. Some stationary bicycles allow you to exercise your upper body as well. When beginning, try not to pedal faster than five to 10 miles per hour. As you become more fit, you can increase your speed and/or add resistance to your workout. If you have osteoarthritis of the knee, you may wish to consult your doctor or physical therapist to determine if bicycling is an acceptable exercise for you.

Arthritis Foundation

EAT A BANANA!

A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas. He said the expression "going bananas" is from the effects of bananas on the brain. Read on: Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!! This is interesting. After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber.. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school (England) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey.. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking & Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple:
it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals.

It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

The Beauty of Living Creatures...

There are certain wild animals that scurry through my yard or fly through it that I marvel at. The baby cottontails in spring time, the assortment of squirrels, the random coyotes that approach the far regions of the fenced yard down below and of course the ravens.

Ahhh- the ravens. I have become an avid watcher of their behavior. Moms and dads have booked space and created gigantic nests, 30 feet high in a pine tree out front... the same spot used over and over again to hatch out two raven eggs at a time. You know they are there as you see the continuous flight of both male and female tirelessly bringing reeds, small branches, cotton fluffs from who knows where and bits and pieces of paper and other material to build and support Mom and the fledglings weight. Soon they are bringing food and often I see other neighboors spreading out food for the wild ones too.

I've watched a full grown raven fly directly into my thick glass window and die. I cried. I've seen one destroyed by a neighbor dog. But I've also seen two babies- quite large- having been blown from their nest during a wind storm the night before, take up residence in the dogs house out back. Not able to fly- it became their yard for several weeks. Watching them fly for the first time is like watching your own child ride a bike the first time. It's wonderful. One remained with us and frequently posed on the patio- the bird bath or sunned himself on the wall. I called him Trooper.

I've rescued one of Trooper's babies after he fell into the waterfall pond on the patio before he could fly- his parents squawking madly only ten feet above me. He lived in the yard for two weeks, and I set him up in a car tire with sticks like were in his nest and some soft fabric atop the dune buggy on the side of the house where he was safe. Mom would return to feed him often, dad too. He was gawky and scrawny with a slightly hooked beak. I named him Ichabod.

Ichabod is still here. He took over fathering the next crop of kids with Mrs. Ichabod. His first active offspring flew from the nest like a football made out of cement. Flew is not the correct adjective. Fortunately another tree broke his fall. In a day or two he did fly, awkwardly from one tree to another to the skylight on the roof, to the nearby telephone pole eventually. His feathers were all ruffled from crashing through the tree branches and stayed that way. I named him Billy Idol- but I have only seen him return once about a week ago. He is small and his sister (and yes I really have no idea about their gender- I just choose it based on what they look like to me) is plump, but was very hesitant to fly. It took her another week or more to go. I think she might have a problem because she hangs out with her folks still and several weeks have passed. She squawks out to them plaintively and lingers on nearby rooftops or sometimes even on the low patio wall near the birdbath. She has little concept it seems that two big dogs go out there frequently. She does fly well- but I wonder if she has not picked up the knack of gathering food. I probably have it all wrong- who knows. It's just fascinating to see the stories unfold inbetween the many hours I spend actually working.

Most people are aware that animals that we have made our pets, improve our dispositions, our physical and emotional health and extend our lives. The idea that there are people in the world that routinely hurt or kill helpless animals is appalling. It actually hurts me to read about atrocities commited on animals . I'm not saying that I don't care about wrong doing to humans, I'm just voicing disgust about mistreatment of animals .

I have an affinity with dogs. I love the dogs who have graced my life. To be able to speak to them and see that they understand, or at other times seem to understand or even don't respond in a way that indicates comprehension- it really does not matter. I adore every dog that has been my pleasure to share living with. I remember reading about Albert Schweitzer as a child and that he never so much as stepped on an ant and that message slowly began to dawn on me in new ways as I matured and became clearer about myself from a conscientious, spiritual, sensitive and altrusitic side of things. How could I knowingly not render assistence, water, food, love to other animals as well?

Working Away...

I'm offering my first free teleseminar today and it is all about group coaching and everything I could think of you might want to know. It's a great way for me to test the waters doing a presentation this way and I am looking forrward to it. Hopefully everything works technologically.

In July I will offer another two session teleseminar on Self Hypnois for Personal or Business Growth. I have taught Self Hypnois to so many people both individally and in groups that I think this topic will flow very well in the teleseminar format. From there I will expand with group coaching for people who want to work with hypnosis more and perhaps a combo coaching/training in the subject.

Affter today it's back to working on writing my book. I attended another guest speaking event in the Writers Club and learned even more about fiction writing - which is on the back burner for me presently. Whew! One book at a time. I will set up a website and a blog for that one soon. I announced the title to the group members, many of whom seem older and retired. There was almost an audible gasp. I need to analyze the audience a bit more to not shock strangers I guess. They do not know my profession.

Remembering Dad

When I was a little girl my dad's mom died. I was only seven and really did not understand death. I knew it was something not desired and that it made some people unhappy. I did not feel empathy for my father and he did not express sorrow that I was aware of. Instead he just seemed like the grouchy dad I often saw.

Tomorrow is the 2nd anniversary of the death of my dad. My mom, almost 90, is undoubtedly thinking about how much she misses him after 66 years of marriage. When he died - after deteriorating year after year with dementia, my poor mother, his care giver all that time, was passive, my brothers were distraught, my younger sister sad, and I was introspective. I never knew him well.

Grief is experienced in so many different ways. What may appear to be indifference may not be at all. What may appear to be overly dramatic may be exhausting, paralyzing emptiness and pain. Regardless of what we see, experiencing grief is so deeply personal and profound that understanding it in someone else is tantamount to impossible.

I have read that "normal" grief lasts about nine months to a year. Yet I have seen people close to me who seem the same as before the loss only weeks after. And of course I have seen people holding onto the memory of a loved one in extroadinary ways. Strange ways- to us- sometimes.

Today I'm thinking about the man who was my father. And it fills me with such a sad feeling that he is gone. And so I know how painful it is for anyone who feels loss and I know that talking about it is key to regaining balance or even just navigating the time after.

Hospice programs and workshops on dealing with grief are certainly available. Checking out what your local hospital offers is a good idea. A workshop I attended was presentd by Douglas C. Smith, MA, MS, M.Div., through The American Academy of Bereavement, www.bereavementacademy.org. I can strongly recommend it.

All these programs help because of communicating about what one feels or experiences and what methods or ways of grieving work the best for them. Coaching is a primary way of moving forward as it encompasses the same opportunity in confidential, one on one sessions, or for later down the road, perhaps even in a small coaching group environment .

Whatever way you choose to work through grief, remember there is always someone who will listen.

Out of the Dark...

CLEAR TRANSITIONS and my activity in the field of coaching has expanded over the last few months and thus I've not updated much , but that's about to change. Speaking engagements, Facebook, Twitter, Teleseminars, new website and blogs are being incorporated in order to meet interesting people all over the world. It's wonderfully exciting to be able to devote more time to the pursuit of something I love and if you are reading this right now, you know exactly what I mean about throughly enjoying what you really like to do. Every new person in coaching or in an audience expands my horizons, and the more I read and research, the more I have to give.

I mention the new website which is at www.focusedcoachingonyou.com. While the original CLEAR TRANSITIONS site is still available www.cleartransitions.com our new site is very up to date with lists of programs and events, my fees, special stimulus packages, self improvement CD's, reading suggestions and CEU's for professionals. I hope you'll take a look.

During these rough times economically, if you are in business - this is a time when your marketing people are encouraging you to build- build- build- and prepare for when the tide changes again for the positive, And it will! If you are reading though here just for yourself and thinking that whatever it is you have been doing , in your own life or in business , just isn't working anymore, then you are in the right place. Life coaching, or interaction and coaching and guidance regarding your physical and emotional well-being is perfectly geared for you. In my next few posts, I look forward to posting all the different ways and areas in which you might like to take part. In addition I'll be writing about a myriad of topics , because if you love to learn , I love to share. Take care out there. The world is changing.