We have spoken about Strength Training For Older Adults many times before, and the value not to just to our muscles and bones but our overall health and well being. When we say exercise can slow the ageing process we are not necessarily talking about how you look, but more how you function in life. When an older adult comes to see me for the first time and in many cases are very stiff, lack confidence walking up and down stairs, balance is a huge problem and they are noticeably weak, and they feel as if it is too late. Some are on powerful medication with damaging side affects that are merely treating symptoms and speeding up their rate of disability. In many cases older adults are often treated by society as it is too late and an inevitable part of getting old. But it is very important to realize that it is NEVER TOO LATE and that older adults are not merely the sum of their chronic diseases. And they should never be treated as such. Nor should it be assumed that just because they are older they are going to have a whole bag of disease conditions. They may, but they might not. The most important part of understand about exercise is, its impact on "functional capacity" which is what I am going to talk about next. This article we are going to show you real life examples and give you proof of why we ALL should be using Functional Strength Training methods to live a healthier life.
One of the most popular questions I am often asked is, “My exercise program is not helping to lose belly fat, what exercises are best to help me?” My answer usually is something like, “how do you handle stress, and what is your food like?” This prompts a confused look from the person asking the question as they were hoping I could give them some miraculous training program to give them a six pack. In my 15 years as a personal trainer this question is without a doubt the most frustrating thing I am regularly asked as there are so many people with the belief that they can exercise their way to good health. We see this all the time, the person who destroys their body with endless cardio sessions to get sweaty but never changes in appearance. It almost seems that the harder they workout the worse they get. The people who struggle to lose the gut no matter how much exercise they complete need to recognise their solution is not a new workout, or more intense training, but adopting more effective strategies of handling STRESS and eating quality NUTRITION. In this article we are going to give you the secrets to getting rid of the gut if you are someone stuck in this rut of not getting anywhere no matter what you do.
It seems like such a strange statement to make. But in the case of knee pain, hardly ever is the problem to do with the knee itself! In fact with nearly every case of chronic pain this is also true. Take for example the cases of special diagnostic tests of a specific areas that come back with normal results, although the patient complains of pain. The site of pain is often not the cause of the pain, it is merely the effect of a cause somewhere else. Vladimir Janda a pioneer in the development of postural correction and movement assessment states, that "these two anatomical systems cannot be separated functionally". Therefore, the term “sensorimotor” system is used to define the functional system of human movement. In addition, changes within one part of the system will be reflected by compensations or adaptations elsewhere within the system because of the body’s attempt at trying to maintain optimal homeostasis. In nearly all cases of injury that has developed over time and not from trauma, you can trace the cause of the problem to somewhere else and in the case of knee pain we find the main culprits are the joints above and below the knee being the hip and the ankle. Add on top of this a poor understanding of movement and you have the perfect recipe for knee pain.