CategoriesBlog

Understanding the Link Between Mental and Physical Health

There is a direct connection between the mind and the body. Your mental, emotional, and physical health all support or limit the health of one another. No one aspect of a person’s health exists within a vacuum.

The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”

To more directly connect the dots, the Canadian Mental Health Association states that this connection is most clearly displayed in the relationship between chronic physical conditions and mental health.

Nowhere is the relationship between mental and physical health more evident than in the area of chronic conditions. The associations between mental and physical health are:

  1. Poor mental health is a risk factor for chronic physical conditions.
  2. People with serious mental health conditions are at high risk of experiencing chronic physical conditions.
  3. People with chronic physical conditions are at risk of developing poor mental health.

The United Kingdom’s Mental Health Organization has stated similar with “poor physical health can lead to an increased risk of developing mental health problems. Similarly, poor mental health can negatively impact on physical health, leading to an increased risk of some conditions.”

Connecting the Dots

The connection has a general consensus across the board that mental health affects physical health, and physical health affects mental health.

They “why” to this isn’t something that can be answered easily simply because of how many small functions our bodies take care of that directly or indirectly impacts the brain. Depending on how strong these different bodily systems are, they can provide different levels of support for the brain.

For instance, HDC (high density cholesterol), in addition to lowering your risk for heart disease and stroke is responsible for lubricating your skin, synthesize vitamin D, and creating several essential hormones the body needs.

To put that in context, people who suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) produce less vitamin D. Vitamin D supplements and sun lamps which prompt vitamin D synthesis are two popular and effective ways to address this type of depression. A balanced level of cholesterol enables the body to naturally produce vitamin D.

While this is certainly not a cure all for everyone, the connection is direct. To a certain degree mental and emotional conditions that arise from an imbalance of or a lack of certain hormones can be corrected through the balancing of those hormones via reaching a more balanced level of cholesterol. This is achieved through the combination of a balanced diet and exercise.

Note, however, that if you do suffer from any form of hormonal imbalance, speak to your doctor. Improving your physical health, if done correctly, certainly can help with building up your mental and emotional health, but again, it is not a cure all and a professional diagnosis is always better than a personal hunch at what may be causing the situation.

What To Do

You don’t have to become a professional powerlifter or go run a marathon to reap these benefits. A 2006 study from the National Institution for Biotechnology outlined that

Health benefits from regular exercise that should be emphasized and reinforced by every mental health professional to their patients include the following:

  1. Improved sleep
  2. Increased interest in sex
  3. Better endurance
  4. Stress relief
  5. Improvement in mood
  6. Increased energy and stamina
  7. Reduced tiredness that can increase mental alertness
  8. Weight reduction
  9. Reduced cholesterol and improved cardiovascular fitness

The work for an average person to enjoy these benefits? Thirty minutes of moderate exercise three times a week. Nothing more than a brisk walk. In fact, that 30 minute brisk walk can be broken up into three ten minute walks.

The body was made to move, and the brain being just another part of the same larger physiological system as the heart, lungs, stomach, and every fibre of muscle and sinew in the body, directly benefits when the systems supporting it are happy.

CategoriesBlog Move.

How to Correctly Gauge your Workout Intensity

written by Flow Trainer, Mackennon Klink, B.S. CSCS, PN1

Does this sound like you? You’ve committed to going to the gym. You’re in the gym three to four times a week, crushing your workout, getting stronger and leaner. However, those 65lb dumbbells seem to be getting heavier. You’re using the same dumbbells from the previous week, but now they feel like 100lbs. What’s going on here??? Are you getting weaker, or is Flow Fitness playing a terrible trick on you?  Well, Flow Fitness isn’t playing any tricks on you, and you aren’t getting weaker.However, your rating of perceived exertion (RPE) has altered.

What are RPE’s? The American College or Sports Medicine (ACSM) defines rating of perceived exertion, better known as the RPE scale, as a psychophysical scale, meaning it calls on the mind and body to rate one’s perception of effort. The RPE scale measures feelings of effort, strain, discomfort, and/or fatigue experienced during both aerobic and/or resistance training.

In simpler terms, the RPE scale is a subjective measurement of how hard you feel like you’re working put onto a scale. If you train long enough, eventually those dumbbells will feel heavier than initially. This is normal. What we’re talking about is the difference between internal and external loading.

External loading is easy to gauge – that’s whatever weight you have on the bar for that given set or workout (ex: 135, 225, or 275 lbs)

Internal loading is more subjective –it’s how the weight of the bar feels.

For example, let’s say you’re bench pressing 225 pounds. The weight is a respectful amount, not a max effort, yet you’re not reppin’ it out for 10+ reps either.

On some days, 225 pounds feels likes nothing and you can absolutely crush it, yet there are other days when it feels like a literal ton of bricks. The external load never changed, yet how the weight feels varies wildly.

There are a few reasons for the higher internal loading, such as:

  • Fatigue from the previous training session
  • Change in training time

Cumulative fatigue from factors outside the gym such as:
– Poor sleep quality
– Excessive stress

How and Why Use the RPE Scale?
RPE works on a scale of 6-10 and looks something like this:

  • RPE of 10 –Max Effort – Congratulations, you just set a personal record!
  • RPE of 9 –Heavy lift – One rep left in the tank.
  • RPE of 8 –Difficult lift – Two reps left in the tank
  • RPE of 7 –Moderately difficult lift – Three to four reps left in the tank
  • RPE of 6 –Minimally difficult lift – four or more reps left in the tank. That’s light weight, baby!! Bump up the weight.

If you train long enough, eventually those dumbbells or weight may feel heavier than it did initially . While this is normal in resistance training, this illustrates why RPE’s can be beneficial in your training. A 6-10 scale works for nearly everyone. This makes integrating the RPE scale into your training simple. After a set, all you need to do is ask yourself: ͞how many reps did I have left in the tank?

Be honest with yourself and leave your ego at the door. If you overestimate and go too heavy, you can potentially hurt yourself and/or hinder your progress.

In addition, RPE allows you to customize every training session to ensure you are properly challenging yourself and getting the most out of your body. For the bulk of your resistance training, aim to keep the RPE between 7-8, 9 at the most. Remember, you want to feel stimulated, not annihilated after your workouts.

Summary:

Truth be told, a lot of us aren’t working as hard as we could be in the gym. This can be difficult to accurately gauge. I’m all for making life as simple as possible, so I prefer using RPE’s to properly monitor my exercise intensity. In fact, RPE’s are critical to know if I’m properly challenging myself or simply wasting my time in the gym. Eventually, your newbie gains will disappear. You won’t be able to walk into the gym and set a new personal record each day. Once that day arrives, you need to arm yourself with the necessary tools to step up your training. RPE’s are an effective and simple tool you can utilize to help you continue to crush your training goals.

CategoriesEvent

Functional Mobility Training for Hips ~ March 6th at 5:30pm

Functional Mobility Training for Hips 

Healthy joints move freely and easily. Whether you are a weight-lifter, runner, cyclist, hiker, skier, or weekend warrior, you can’t perform at your best if mobility restrictions, stability issues, or joint pain is holding you back.

Join us to learn how to:

  • *Improve your squat and deadlift

  • * Drive more power from your hips

  • *Decrease risk of injury and pain

  • *Improve mobility and stability

  • *Enhance joint-durability, strength, and control

Mobility refers to the amount of active, usable range of motion one possesses. The more mobility someone has, the more they are able to move safely and efficiently without running into restrictions that decrease your ability to perform and stay healthy. Since we live and die in our end-ranges, it’s crucial to condition joints to be more resilient and durable though full range-of-motion.

This mobility workshop is designed to increase articular strength and neurological control of your hips– a problematic area for many of us. It’s designed to close the gap between one’s active and passive range-of-motion, with the goal of improved strength and control of a larger ROM. The result? Decreased risk of injury and increased body control.

Reserve your spot at: bit.ly/flowhips

CategoriesBlog Live Fit.

Four Tips to Maximize Your Workout Recovery

written by Flow Trainer, Erin White.

I’m sure we have all been there. Finished workout after workout, but yet not quite having the energy or strength to finish the workout fully satisfied or feeling accomplished. Or how I put it is – everything feels so heavy today, I feel like I took a couple steps backward.

Sure we will have good days and bad. There will be times your body is just not always feeling it. But a big part of us being able to have the energy, endurance and strength for our workouts is nutrition and RECOVERY.

1. Mobility/ stretching- (BEFORE + AFTER) So often we want to dive right into a workout, ( I myself am guilty!). What we need to remember is to prep our muscles for movement. We need mobility and stability. Meaning we stretch and lengthen those muscles we are using, open up those joints (example- shoulders, hips) and then we get those muscles firing or activated with smaller movements. (we get those muscles warmed up and ready to GO!) And yes it’s a before and after kind of thing. After the workout a lot of times a self myo-fascial release technique will also help (example: foam rollers and lacrosse balls).

2. Hydration. We all better know this one. H20. H20! So many incredible benefits for the body from hydrating, drinking tons of water. But especially when trying to keep our bodies hydrated through intense exercises. Try adding some natural electrolyte mixes into your water next time. And think CLEAN, less additives the better. But take a peak at ingredients and make sure you got those good electrolytes.

3. Pre/post workout fuel (food)– We always want to make sure we are working out with some food/nutrients in our system. This can be discussed more with nutrition. But yes food is fuel so it’s incredibly IMPORTANT to stay on top of your nutrition. Post workout is also so crucial. We put out a lot of energy during training, therefore we need to refuel our bodies. Thinking about a good clean protein and carb to replenish our glycogen stores and feed our muscles, to help them maintain and grow. (example: protein shake with some almond milk and bananas/fruit of some kind). Need more examples? Feel free to ask any of our trainers.

4. SLEEP – One of the most important factors, that most Americans don’t get enough of. I get it, life can be crazy. There might be some nights where we aren’t getting those 7-9 hours of sleep due to schedules, jobs, kids. That’s life, right? But making fitness a priority, we also need to somehow make sleep one as well. If not at least try to catch up on it when we can. If we aren’t letting our bodies repair and recover, those workouts will eventually suffer. Remember to take care of your bodies. When we train hard, train like athletes we need to recover and eat like athletes as well!

CategoriesEvent

Ride with the Reign ~ Saturday, February 10th

Join Seattle Reign players Bev Yanez and Kiersten Dallstream for an amazing indoor cycle ride and raise money for the Austen Everett Foundation. The ride will be 45 minutes of non-stop energy and fun in Flow Fitness’s new state of the art indoor cycle studio in Fremont. We’ll be listening to Bev and Kiersten’s favorite songs and get in an amazing workout at the same time. Not a workout buff? Don’t worry this class is suitable for all fitness levels.

After the ride, join us for a reception and have an opportunity to meet Bev and Kiersten and get their thoughts on the upcoming season, They will also be available to take photos or sign autographs.

100% of proceeds will be donated to the Austin Everett Foundation which is a great cause that helps empower children to fight cancer.

We’ll provide towels, cycle shoes and water bottles.

Saturday, February 10th ~ 11am – 12pm

Learn more and register here.

Brought to you by:

CategoriesBlog Live Fit. Nourish.

Understanding Protein

Continuing with our nutrition discussion, it’s time to get into proteins. In November we discussed macronutrients in a broader sense, and explained  how to maintain a healthy balance. Just last December we took the microscope to carbohydrates to explore their function in the body, and why they are so essential to your health.

Today, we’ll take an in depth look at protein, what it is, and why you need it.

As stated in the last article, save for a few medical conditions that create inconsistency in how nutrients are digested and absorbed, the body can be predicted. It is not a mysterious black box that operates at random, but a fine tuned machine that responds to change accordingly. Understanding how it responds to change is more formulaic than guesswork, and this is a powerful tool to use to achieve any health and/or fitness related goals.

Protein’s Role

Proteins are large, complex molecules that play many critical roles in the body.” Most of the work performed inside your cells is performed by proteins, and they are needed for the regulation, function, and structure of all of your body’s organs and tissues.

Each individual protein is composed of hundreds — or sometimes thousands — of much smaller units called amino acids which chain together. There are 20 types of amino acids. Eleven of those amino acids are produced in the body itself, and the remaining 9 are gained through our diet.

The 9 amino acids gained through our diet are called “essential amino acids”. Being able to recall this from memory is useful for nutritionists and top level athletes looking to micromanage their diet to get the best performance out of their body, but for anyone with athletic or health goals that aren’t quite at the professional level, there’s little need to memorize all of these.

The specific jobs that protein performs include:

  • Providing nitrogen, which is essential for building and maintaining all body tissues, muscles, skin, blood, hair, nails, and internal organs such as the brain and heart
  • Formation of hormones, including those essential for growth, metabolism, and sexual development
  • Regulating the body’s water balance and acidic/alkaline balance
  • Building enzymes responsible for basic life functions
  • Building antibodies that fight diseases and other foreign bodies you are exposed to

How Much Protein Should You Eat?

1 gram of protein = 4 calories.

The American College of Sports Medicine states that an average diet should consist of 12% protein. There are a number of different ways to establish what a healthy range is, but one of the most simple is the RDA.

RDA = Recommended Daily Amount

The RDA states that .8 grams of protein should be consumed for every 2 lbs of body weight.

This number works for the majority of people, but must be taken with a grain of salt, because this number works for the “average” healthy individual. It has the same pitfall as a body mass index (BMI) measurement. It accounts just for weight that is higher than normal, but doesn’t leave room to account for someone having more muscle than the average person. So if someone is either overweight in terms of having excess body fat, or they have more muscle than the average person, the number given will be inaccurate and all calculations based off of that number will be incorrect.

There are a number of calculators out there that while they are not perfect, they give a much more educated guess than you would receive looking strictly at the RDA. Lucky for us, the formulas provided and used here provide citations to the case studies they are derived from. No room for pseudo-science here.

CategoriesEvent

Kids Programs at Flow Fremont

Kids Dance Classes

We are pleased to announce that we will be offering classes kids dance classes on Saturday mornings at Flow Fitness Fremont.  Take advantage of this opportunity to get your child moving and get a workout for yourself.

Kids Dance: We will introduce ballet, hip hop, jazz and modern through fun dance games, stimulating music and a playful atmosphere. This energy releasing class will encourage joy, creative movement expression, and music exploration.

Dates:  2/17 (Jazz), 2/24 (Ballet), 3/3 (Hip Hop), 3/10 (Jazz)
Kids Dance: 9:30-10:20am
Ages:  5-10 years old
Cost per Class:  $10

Reserve your spot now as space is limited to 14 per class.

CategoriesEvent

The Reset – Round Two

The Reset:  60 days of the Whole30 with Flow Fitness.

January 8th – March 8th, 2018

Make the New Year’s Resolution that lasts a lifetime.
Reset your nutrition in 60 days following the highly acclaimed Whole30 plan.

WHY THE WHOLE30? 

Being healthy starts with Food.  The Whole30 will help you discover foods (like sugar, photo-1468777675496-5782faaea55bgrains, dairy and legumes) that are negatively impacting your health and fitness. The program will “reset” your metabolism, systematic inflammation and many other downstream effects from your food choices.

This isn’t about weight loss, though many people do lose significant weight. This is about being healthy and knowing what food feels like in your body.  It’s also about learning how and why you eat.

WHY WITH FLOW?

photo-1477887209660-2d9c5901f429

• Official weigh in and weigh out (including measurements & body composition analysis)

• Private Facebook page to share recipes, tips & tricks

• Kick-off event: January 8th

• 60 days.  30 for the program & 30 more to add foods back in mindfully

This program is an optional part of the 60 day challenge.
The Whole30 can be done, but is more difficult if you are vegetarian.  If you have any other health issues, you may connect with your doctor before beginning.

Facilitated by: Beth Cline, Group Exercise Director & Movement Coach
ENROLL (or ask questions) by emailing beth@flowfitnessseattle.com

recommended, but not necessary:
The Whole30

Check out the basics here.