Depression has long been associated with a variety of physiological symptoms, including joint and muscle pain.  Now a new study out of Hebrew University in Jerusalem has found having the blues is also bad for your bones.

Researchers looked at scientific data on over 20 thousand people and found that there is a clear association between depression and having lower bone density.  Apparently, depression increases the activity of osteoclasts – specialized cells responsible for the breakdown of bone.

This is important because osteoporosis is the most widespread degenerative disease in the so-called “developed countries”. 

One in three women will develop osteoporosis in her lifetime (and one in five men). Young women suffering from depression are actually at the greatest risk, because they are still in peak bone-building years.

So add this to the list of reasons that people who are (or think they maybe) suffering from depression should get medical help.  Symptoms of depression, include:

• Loss of interest in normal daily activities
• Feeling sad or down
• Feeling hopeless
• Crying spells for no apparent reason
• Problems sleeping
• Trouble focusing or concentrating
• Difficulty making decisions
• Unintentional weight gain or loss
• Irritability
• Restlessness
• Being easily annoyed
• Feeling fatigued or weak
• Feeling worthless
• Loss of interest in sex
• Thoughts of suicide or suicidal behavior
• Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches

  Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

There have long been misconceptions…about training and conception. 

Norwegian University just released a study which analyzed exercise and it’s impact on fertility over a ten year span.  Researchers studied 3000 women and found that two factors were associated with increased likelihood of infertility:

1. Training every single day
2. Training to exhaustion (regardless of frequency and duration)

This turned out to hold true even after researchers adjusted for other infertility factors (body mass, smoking, previous pregnancies, etc.).

In fact, women who worked out every single day were a whopping 3.5 times more likely to have fertility problems.  Those who exercised everyday to exhaustion had the HIGHEST risk of fertility problems.

The good news is that these factors were reversible, so once training was reduced to more moderate levels (of frequency and intensity) fertility levels rose as well. 

Researchers believe that extreme energy expenditure of exhaustive exercise alters the body’s ability to maintain the normal hormone function essential to the fertility.

That said it’s important not to stop working out all together because good overall fitness is still important for general health, including fertility.  In fact, very low levels of fitness (and obesity) are also associated with conception problems.

Moderate exercise 3-5 times per week is probably fine and beneficial for most women, but every woman is different.  Women should be particularly concerned when their training is associated with missed periods, irregular periods or no periods at all.  Menstrual irregularities are a powerful indicator that hormone function is being negatively impacted by training. 
Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

Despite the many concerns some women have about exercising during pregnancy, the fact is most of the research shows that it is safe and beneficial for both mother and baby.  Here are some surprising research findings (most from James Clapp III MD in his excellent book, Exercising Through Your Pregnancy)

1.  Exercise helps make the placenta (the fetal lung) work more efficiently improving the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the baby.

2.  Exercise is associated with delivery of “easier”, “less fussy” babies.

3.  The babies of moms who workout are actually leaner — but of a healthy, appropriate weight and normal measurements.

4.  Women who workout through their entire pregnancy report significantly fewer orthopedic complaints (such as low back pain).

5.  Contrary to popular belief, pregnant women have an easier time dissipating heat due to higher blood volumes, more delivery of blood to the skin’s surface and lower daytime body temperatures.
Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

ACL is the abbreviation for “anterior cruciate ligament”.   It is one of four primary ligaments that provide stability to the knee by connecting the upper leg bone (the femur) to the lower larger leg bone (the tibia).

It is found in the middle front of the knee and forms a diagonal X with the PCL (or posterior cruciate ligament) behind it.  In fact, the word “cruciate” means “cross” and both ligaments are so named because of this X or cross formation.

The main role of the ACL is to prevent the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur.  It also provides stability against rotation for the knee joint.  The PCL prevents movement of the tibia behind the femur.

The ACL provides about 90% percent of the knee’s stability. 

The ACL and the MCL (the medial collateral ligament, which limits lateral movement on the inside of the knee) are the two most commonly injured of the four major knee ligaments.

Hamstring tendons (muscles on the back of the upper thigh) are frequently used in ACL reconstructions.

It is estimated that 90-95% of those who undergo an ACL reconstruction will return to full function within 6 months.

Women are up to 10 x more likely than men to injur their ACL, for many reasons.  Click here to read about Women and ACL Injuries
Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

This is an idea that’s taking root in the fitness industry, driven most notably by Coach Michael Boyle and the famed Physical Therapist and FMS creator, Gray Cook.  The concept is that there are joints in the body that (based on their design and inherent function) are supposed to be more mobile and move well — while other joints should actually avoid motion and stay stable.

Injuries and dysfunctions occur when stable joints are moving too much or mobile joints aren’t moving enough.  Of greater interest is that the injury is typically experienced at a joint either above or below the joint that isn’t functioning properly. 

Here’s a quick breakdown of stability and mobility in the major joint structures of the body.

• The neck is supposed to be mobile
• The shoulder girdle is supposed to be stable
• The shoulder is supposed to be mobile
• The lumbar spine is supposed to be stable
• The hips are supposed to be mobile

Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

• The knees are supposed to be stable
• The ankles are supposed to be mobile

According to Boyle and Cook, a “knee problem” (for example) is often REALLY a hip or ankle dysfunction causing pain in the knee. 

In other words, if one of those two regions (hips and ankles) doesn’t have good mobility the knee is forced to become more mobile — even though it’s supposed to be stable.  In this case the knee gives up its stability leading to pain, injury and dysfunction.  So your “painful knee” is really a poorly functioning hip and/or ankle.

It’s fascinating stuff.  You can listen to the recorded webcast with Coach Boyle that I heard live tonight – at a new educational resource www.scwebinars.com.   Great stuff for the fitness professional, body worker or exercise enthusiast.  Be sure to check it out!

Running or walking outside also involves some “rules of the road” to make sure that you are safe and avoid serious injury.  Here are some things to consider:

Let ‘em know where you’re going.  Always let someone know where you plan on running.  Have a few set routes and tell someone which one you’re taking that day, what time you left and approximately when you should return.  Always carry ID, cash and a cell phone

Share the road with other fitness buffs.  Be alert for bikers and rollerbladers in places like public parks.  It’s a lot harder for the person on wheels to do a hard stop.  Collisions are not uncommon and usually one person assumes the other: 1) saw them and 2) was going to/should have stopped.
Not to be a Nervous Nelly, but these are time-tested for outdoor fitness and safety.  Be safe, be smart and have fun out there!
Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

• Try to run in areas with little to no traffic, if possible.   Even if this means driving to another neighborhood, parking and running there.  I often walk over to a subdivision near my home and run there.  Very little traffic.
   

   

• Get off the road.  Try to run where there is a size-able “shoulder” which is relatively smooth, ideally paved.  Nothing worse than a runner/walker in the middle of the road while two passing cars try to guess what to do.
•  Run on the same side as the traffic (facing the traffic) so that you can see them and they can see you.  When you run with traffic it is easy to move out in front of a car behind you.
•  Unless they can’t see you. The exception to this is blind curves or hills where your view (and the view of the drivers) is obstructed,
•  Don’t suck up fumes.  Avoid running near high traffic areas (like along a  highway shoulder).  The body has a greater affinity for carbon monoxide than oxygen, so you will be breathing in lots of toxins during your run.
•  

Happy Earth Day!! 

Most of us don’t think about how our fitness routine could be polluting the planet.  But the fact is that the effects of small things (whether good or bad) add up over time.

Here are some small changes I’ve made that are making my fitness program a little greener this year than it was last.

I’m not buying bottled water anymore (this probably really hurt stock at Poland Spring).  I use my Sigg bottle and fill it up from the tap or a water fountain.

• I’m washing my clothes (when you workout you have a lot more laundry) in environmentally-friendly detergents (I love Melaleuca’s products)

Diabetes is on the rise in America.  Eight percent of the US population — a whopping 23.6 million children and adults now have diabetes.  Between 2005 and 2007 there was a 13.5% increase in the number of people with this disease in the US, largely because of the dramatic increase in obesity.   Approximately 171 million people worldwide have diabetes and that number is projected to increase to 366 million in the next 20 years.  When you consider that diabetes increases your risk of: heart disease, heart attack, stroke, kidney, eye problems and more, the potential impact of this increase on the health care system is staggering.

The good news is that a new study which followed 70 thousand women for 18 years has found that veggie consumption decreases the likelihood of developing type II diabetes.   Researchers found that women had a 9% decrease in their chance of developing diabetes for every additional serving of vegetables that they ate on a typical day.  The higher the individual’s veggie consumption, the lower their risk.  Interestingly, the consumption of whole fruits was also associated with a decreased risk of developing type II diabetes.  But high intakes of  fruit juice was actually associated with an increased risk.

Previous studies have found that those who eat refined carbohydrates and white potatoes have an increased risk, whereas those who eat more beans (especially soybeans) have a decreased risk.

While the study was done with women, we can assume that this is true for men as well.   So Mom was right after all…it’s important to eat your fruits and veggies…so be sure to get your 5-7 every day!

Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

A new study analyzing popular time-tested cookbooks like The Joy of Cooking has found that there has been a 40% increase in the average number of calories in recipes over the last several decades with each successive edition.  There were two main reasons sited for this trend.

For one thing the portion sizes were larger.  So, for example a brownie recipe that once made 30 brownies — now made only 15 brownies.  It was actually the same recipe, same pan, only now a “serving” was twice as big. 

The second factor was the inclusion of more fattening ingredients to standard recipe, like adding more red meat and less beans to a popular chili con carne recipe.

All of which underscores the importance of actually reading the calories counts AND the portion sizes.  Always consider what are they calling a portion size as compared to what would most people serve as a portion size.   I remember I once picked up a Chipwich-type ice cream sandwich and saw a very low calorie count…the reason?  A “serving size” was a half of the sandwich.  Very sneaky!

Sometimes we want to believe that something we’re about to eat contains fewer calories than it does.  Reading the calorie count but not considering the “real world” calorie count for what you’re actually going to be consuming is a sure-fire way to pack on the pounds.

Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!