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Posts Tagged ‘health’

Does Vibration Training really work for women?

June 15th, 2009

Wow, what a loaded question!

I answer with, what results do you want to see?

It’s all to easy to answer such a generalised question with: Of course it works! You’ll lose weight and get stronger in no time at all.

One of the lessons I learnt when I first worked in a Fitness Facility was, never, ever guess what results a person wants or expects from their program. Never look at a person who’s overweight and assume that’s the area they want results. It might be that they are okay with their size and really want to improve their core stability or just get rid of back pain. A common answer to the question, “what are your goals and what results do you want to see?” is “I just want to feel better, not so tired all the time”. Telling that person that they need to lose weight would offend and they’d probably never come back.

Vibration Training on high force, high quality platforms offers so many benefits and that’s the reason I am so passionate about it. I don’t have to hype up an answer to any question I am asked; there’s so much I can honestly say.

When asked about weight-loss I prefer to say that vibration training has great toning effects. It’s intense though short sessions cause the body to use up large amounts of energy. It definitely feels like exercise and leaves the user tired but with a great, after-exercise “buzz”. After about 3 weeks (maybe 10 sessions) women see results; the bathroom mirror becomes a friend rather than enemy as a sideways glance shows shape changes. I’ve had customers complain that their expensive designer jeans no longer fit well yet the scales aren’t showing any major weightloss yet. For me, that’s the most exciting time; being able to say that a customer has gained muscle and so has gained strength, improved their overall fitness, looks brighter, feels better and the list goes on.

Did I say they are also maintaining or gently improving their bone density and ridding their body of toxins due to the increased blood supply and all that vibration thinning out and squeezing some fluid from cells where it’s been lying stagnant for who know how long. And balancing out their homones; but that will keep for another blog.

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Posted in Benefits, Women, health

Tags: health Results Weight-loss Women

Thin Women – Thin Bones?

June 11th, 2009

As our society fixates on slim being attractive and models starve themselves to achieve “the look”, then parade “the look” on the catwalk, in magazine advertisements selling everything from clothes to cosmetics, women of all ages try to emulate that style, with teens and young women even competing with each other to become thin, severely restricting their diets and sometimes exercising to extreme and in the process starving their bones. Doctors have spoken out about the dangers but women still think that Osteoporosis is a disease that their great-grandmothers had and they don’t realise that it is becoming more prevalent today and in younger women too.

Underweight women have below normal levels of calcium, and sometimes estrogen, making them more likely to fracture bones and putting themselves at increased risk of Osteoporosis, a progressive disease that can strike at any age. Larger women rarely get Osteoporosis; the increased weight supports and strengthens the bones while estrogen metabolites produced by fat cells also help with bone strength. Even after menopause hormones produced by the adrenal glands are metabolised by fat cells and coverted into the estrogen needed to protect the bones. Of course, being overweight brings its own risks and causes wear and tear of the joints of the ankles and the knees.

Low body weight with it’s associated low bone density is a serious problem and it affects men as well as women. If blood calcium levels drop too low over time from decreased calcium intake increased parathyroid hormone levels stimute bones to release calcium, further depleting them.

It is impossible to consume all the nutrients required for good health, bone growth and maintenance on a low calorie diet alone. Women who insist on attaining thinness must supplement their diet with calcium and other nutrients and are advised to do this under the guidance of a medical professional or qualified dietician.

Stop Smoking! Smoking also puts the bones at increased risk of Osteoporosis. It is not yet fully known how it does this but it robs the protective effect of calcium and works to prevent bone reformation. Nicotine also inhibits estrogen release and causes it’s breakdown by the liver. Smokers have twice the risk of hip fracture as non-smokers. Smokers also tend to be thinner than non-smokers.

It is possible to be slim without putting bones at risk. Healthy Bones require healthy eating along with regular exercise to strengthen muscles and bones; particularly resistance exercise and this is where Vibration Training can help. By increasing muscle strength bones are better supported while increased blood supply allows the bones to receive the nutrients needed for strength and growth. Forces like tension or vibration cause electrical activity in the bone which stimulates osteoblasts to enhance bone growth.

If dieting has become an obsession, EDEN can help.

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Posted in Benefits, Vibration Training, health

Tags: health Results Vibration Training

Don’t overeat to relieve stress!

June 9th, 2009

Cortisol is a hormone produced and released by the adrenal glands in response to stress. It’s sudden small increase and secretion into the blood stream activates the quick burst of energy required for survival in life threatening situations. The heightened memory, sharp decision making and action, and lower sensitivity to pain so necessary in “fight or flight” situations are all enhanced by small increases in cortisol.

The problem is we often don’t relax once the crisis has passed. Or because of our rush-rush busy lives we live in a constant state of “increased stress”. In this situation the increases of cortisol are not helpful at all. Blood sugar remains high, blood pressure is elevated, thyroid function suppressed, cognitive skills can be impaired, inflamatory response and immunity are lowered, headaches and fatigue set in, muscle strength decreases, and along with all this, abdominal fat increases. The higher level of cortisone prevents the body return to homeostasis which is exactly the opposite of the proper use of this hormone.

Increased cortisol causes the body to make more adrenaline giving us the boost needed for escape or to “fight the enemy”. Adrenaline signals cause release of fatty acids into the blood stream to be used for energy. How our body works is truely amazing but what if we don’t really need those extra fatty acids? What if we are simply sitting about worrying or rushing about so busy that we don’t stop to sit down for a meal, instead we eat on the run; hamburgers, pizza, corn chips and sour cream dips (my downfall), take-out, fat laden meals, and alcohol. Our body then stores the unused fatty acids as belly fat and adds to this any fat it can pull from the food we eat. Perceiving danger and the need for extra energy the body stores fat in the abdominal area as this area has many cortisol receptors. Studies have shown that under ongoing stress people who secrete more cortisol also eat more carbohydrates which can add to blood sugar imbalances along with adding even more fat from the fats in the carbohydrate foods.

We respond to Stress in individual ways; of course it is not only a negative in our lives, it’s the impetus needed to bring about action, but if you’re sensitive to stress reaction you need to take steps to break the cortisol belly fat problem along with learning to relax completely. Ways to do this include journeling, listening to music or even watching a movie, deep breathing, adequate sleep, exercise as simple as taking a walk, sex (yes, I really did say this), and remember, Don’t overeat to relieve Stress!

Vibration Training works well to release stress. The body reacts to “attack” by the machine by pulling away but by fighting back instead, keeping in perfect position with the end result of increased blood supply; the fatty acids start to get used for energy and this continues over the next 24 or more hours as the body’s metabolic rate has increased. Serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is responsible for “good” feeling is increased along with endorphins which give the “runners high” that comes from exercise. There’s even the creation of new nerves within the brain. Sounds good to me!