Birthing/Exercise Balls

I'll bet most of the ladies reading this used a 'birthing ball' at the hospital during labour, or even have one at home. I guess you know how good they are for getting back in shape after the birth of your baby, and for regaining strength in your 'core' muscles which will help to relieve back pain etc. But do you actually know what to do with the ball? Many people I speak to don't and it ends up being deflated and stuck in the garage or left in the garden for the kids to play with. Well at Newborn Fitness we are putting together a postnatal specific ball workout on a wallchart that you can buy along with one of our top quality Newborn Fitness 'Gymnic' exercise balls, boxed with a pump, for only £19.95. Usually you'd expect to pay that just for one of these Italian produced anti-burst balls.

These 'core' exercises will enable you to flatten your 'baby belly' within a few short weeks, and you'll be able to get the whole package at www.newbornfitness.co.uk in a couple of weeks.

Healthy Regards

Lifestyle Improvement Reduces Heart Attack Risk

No S*** Sherlock!

So here's yet another article on health related issues, found in The Times today. Ok so it's not an ante or postnatal exercise issue, but it amazes me how much money is spent on research that always tells us the same thing. The fact that most cases of CHD, diabetes, etc comes from not taking enough exercise and eating too much of the wrong stuff. Did you see the programme last night about Barry the Brummie, Britains fattest man? He's been made a celebrity by the media because of his size and he's now trying to lose weight. He's decided to eat healthier but spent £360 on 'healthier food' for a fortnight! Some sort of portion control would be in order I imagine!

Rather than keep telling us what we all know, wouldn't the money be better spent on educating people about the benefits of regular exercise and good nutrition? No one needs to be a saint, and we can all eat chocolate and chips now and again, just not all the time. I speak regularly with health visitors and midwives who tell me about 4 year olds still being fed baby food because their mothers have no idea how to cook a potato or veg. How can this be happening in 21st century Britain?

Anyway rant over. Here's the article, and I've put the important bit in bold.

DNA test to identify those twice as likely to have an early heart attack - Times Mark Henderson reports that an Icelandic company is developing a test that determines whether people have an inherited vulnerability to heart attacks. They are able to develop such a test following the discovery of a genetic variant that can double the risk of heart attack at an early age. Once the test has been perfected it will allow doctors to advise patients with a high genetic vulnerability to change their lifestyle or, if necessary, take cholesterol-lowering drugs. Tim Chico, of the University of Sheffield, said: "We must not forget that 90% of the risk of a heart attack comes from things like smoking, cholesterol, diet, lack of exercise and diabetes. Whatever our genetic makeup, we can all reduce our chance of heart disease by improving our lifestyle."

Healthy Regards

'Exercise pill' tricks body into burning twice the fat

Did anyone see this headline in the Independent last week? Supposedly American scientists have discovered and tested on mice a pill that triggers the same fat burning process that occurs during exercise, even when the mice are inactive. Now this could be a good thing for the chronically obese couldn't it, but how long before it gets into the hands of lazy, inactive people looking for a quick fix, or bodybuilders getting ready for a show (as if they aren't taking enough drugs already).

Dr. Ronald Evans, a researcher at the Salk Institute in California states that "Too few people get an ideal amount of exercise. Having access to an exercise pill would improve the quality of muscles, and increase the burning of energy or excess fat [lowering] the risks of heart disease and diabetes."

Call me old fashioned but I really do feel that more people could, if they wished to, get more exercise than they do. Rather than rely on drugs (with their often terrible side effects) as an answer to everything, why not go for a walk or to the gym? Why not eat fruit and veg instead of burgers and pizza? Why not try water instead of beer? (yes I'll try and take that one on board too!). Honestly though there is a great world out there beyond fast food and TV, but you have to go and find it.

Is it me? Feel free to comment.

Healthy Regards

Postnatal Exercise Question

Hi everyone. I've been all over the country this last week and am also in the process of moving house again, but I thought it was about time I wrote something new in this blog as I know many of you have been reading it. If you have any questions for me please send me an email via the 'ask the experts' section and I'll be happy to answer whenever time allows. I can't offer medical advice as I'm not qualified to do so, and you should speak to your doctor before starting an exercise programme, but I can give the benefit of my knowledge and experience in the field of ante and postnatal exercise. Let me give you an example of the sort of thing I mean.

A week or so ago I received an question via email from a lovely lady who's name I won't mention, and she was wondering if she'd ever have a flat tummy again. She'd just had her 2nd child and he was a very large baby (over 10lbs). She's motivated and exercising regularly by running for 20-30 mins, and doing 'toning exercises' but not getting a flat tummy yet. She feels as if she's flogging a dead horse.

Well I can tell her that she's probably not the only one reading this feeling the same way? Am I right? Do let me know and I'll see if I can help you. This was my reply:

Dear ********

No, you are not flogging a dead horse and you can certainly have a flat tummy again, but it won’t happen overnight. You don’t say how old you are, but at any age at least 75% of losing weight/getting in shape is nutrition related. It’s great that you are motivated and doing exercise, but without getting your diet right you won’t get the results you deserve. Although it may be difficult, many smaller snack type meals at regular intervals will stimulate your metabolism and help you lose weight, especially if protein is included. Eat lean meat and poultry, fish, and fresh fruit and veg, along with brown rice, baked potatoes and wholegrain bread (not too much). Try to avoid processed foods whenever possible. If it comes in a bag or a box don’t eat it! (Thanks Craig)

Regarding exercise, have you got an exercise ball? If so there are some good exercises on our website here that you can try. Because of the instability of the ball any ball exercises stimulate all your core muscles, and not just the abs. This helps to tighten the whole waistline and to alleviate back pain by developing the muscles that support the spine. Sit-ups aren’t great as they can stress the lower back quite a bit. You mention toning exercises. By that I presume you mean weight training which is great. The more muscle you can develop the more calories you can eat without gaining weight as muscle burns calories all the time. Don’t worry, you won’t get big muscles as you don’t have the hormones required.

Running is great and 20 minutes is what I’d actually recommend. It’s what you do in the 20 mins that counts. Rather than just jog at comfortable pace, try and run fast for a minute or two every few minutes or so. We call this interval training and it’s been scientifically proven to burn more calories over the course of the day than just regular cardio. So, warm up thoroughly, run for 3 minutes, sprint for one minute to get your heart rate right up there, slow down until you recover and repeat until the 20 mins is up. Aim for 4 or 5 intervals over the 20 minute period. I don’t know your current fitness level but it will increase rapidly with this type of training. If you can’t manage the sprints then just increase your pace by what is comfortable until you can. It won’t take long.

Finally, start with the end in mind. So although it may seem silly, visualise the way you want to look. Before you even start working out have a picture in your mind of how you want to look, and ‘feel’ how you would feel if you were there already. Keep this picture and this feeling in your mind as much as possible, and it will help you to achieve your goal faster. All athletes do this as it programmes the subconscious mind to believe that’s the way you are already. Don’t ask how it works, it just does! Another important thing regarding this is to eliminate negative thinking. Change ‘I can not shift my belly’ to ‘my belly is getting flatter every day’ and say it over and over. Your subconscious mind cannot differentiate between fact and fiction, and if you go there in your subconscious mind you’ll eventually get there for real.

I'm checking out now. I hope that helped some people and I'm looking forward to your questions. If you are into running then be sure to pick up a copy of 'women's fitness magazine' this month and look for my article on running during pregnancy.

Healthy Regards.