Wow, where has this year gone?

Apologies for not posting in a while, I have been busy on other projects such as launching a new Weight Management Course with the local PCT and developing www.personaltrainerwatford.com my new website – it does what it says on the tin really.

Back to the post…

I went to the Yoga Show to sell some Vibram Fivefingers for Primal Lifestyle. The Yoga show was AWESOME, we had a lot of yoga going on, a lot of stretching, a lot of meditating…all that stuff. Fantastic I say, very much a believer in Holistic Health.

I got myself a new pair of Vibram Fivefingers Moc, there is NOTHING and I mean nothing to these bad boys. It is literally a golf glove for your feet!

The FiveFingers Moc was designed to enhance a barefoot feeling. The kangaroo leather upper feels soft against the bare foot, yet is strong and tear resistant. The 7-part Vibram rubber sole offers maximum feel and flexibility without sacrificing slip resistance. The FiveFingers Moc was designed primarily for indoor use during fitness training, CrossFit, yoga and for after sport. The sole is not designed for extended use during outdoor activities like trekking, running, or water sports.

FIVEFINGERS MOC IS BEST FOR: Fitness Training, Indoor CrossFit, Travel, & After Sports

These have been very well recieved so far, I have had many people in the gym at Bushey Grove ask me about them. I will of course say they are fantastic because they are quite unique, aren’t they?

What Are Fivefingers footwear?

Vibram Five Fingers fans are doing just about everything under the sun in them — from running any race out there (5Ks to 100 mile ultramarathons), to working out, playing, going to work, hang-gliding, sky-diving, or even playing golf.

Vibram Five Fingers—so-named because in Italian the word for “fingers” is the same as the word for “toes”—are the first-ever toe shoes to be manufactured by Vibram (pronounced Vee-brum), a world-renowned Italian company know for manufacturing high-quality rubber soles. “Vibrams” are at the forefront of the emerging minimalist footwear and natural running (and by extension barefoot running) movement, a movement that has gained huge momentum thanks to Christopher McDougall’s national best-seller Born to Run and Barefoot runner Ted McDonald.

Not a sock nor quite a shoe, “Vibrams” or “Fivefingers” are one of the strangest-yet-intuitive, compelling products to ever be created for feet. What exactly are they? FiveFingers are little more than a foot glove composed of a five-toed Vibram sole with a thin-fabric (or neoprene or leather depending on the model) upper. Vibram Five Fingers have zero arch support and minimal to no “cushioning” or “padding” (“EVA” or polyurethane). Because they allow your toes added freedom, because they lack structure, and because they transmit sensations from the ground to the foot, Vibram Five Fingers allow your feet to be feet!

10 reasons to go barefoot!

1. Enhanced running efficiency;

research has shown that running barefoot results in a 4% increase in efficiency. It is not clear why this is, though it is likely to be due in part to the toes and the arches of the foot being allowed to function more effectively without a stiff sole and unforgiving arch supports.

2. Facilitated venous return resulting in:

a. Decreased blood pressure this is true – particularly if walking on uneven ground (ie cobbled streets or off road). The walking itself, of course, helps to support good cardiovascular function but, in addition, the fact that the foot strikes the ground at a slightly different angle with each step and is allowed to roll over the naturally convex heel (rather than a flat, straight, rubber plate) means that multiple muscle groups are activated resulting in greater pumping of blood back through the valve-based venous system (Vines 2005).

b. Reduced risk of deep vein thrombosis for the same reason as above (2a) there is less pooling of blood in the lower leg and enhanced venous return.

c. Lower incidence of varicose veins because there is better venous return, blood does not sit in the veins increasing pressure on the vein walls and creating varicosities. Instead it is pumped more efficiently back to the heart through enhanced muscular use in the lower leg.

3. Decreased ankle sprains;

it is claimed that increased awareness of foot position from direct contact with the ground (Robbins et al., 1995) may decrease risk of ankle sprain – and/or the reduced leverage and consequently twisting around the ankle (sub-talar) joint from going “barefoot” minimizes the risk of spraining the joint during a stumble (Stacoff et al., 1996).

4. Lowered risk of shin splints;

chronic ailments such as shin splints, ilio-tibial band syndrome and peri-patellar pain are attributed variously to altered biomechanical loading of the limbs (Siff and Verkhoshansky, 1999, p.451). When running barefoot on hard surfaces, the runner compensates for the lack of cushioning underfoot by plantar-flexing the foot at contact, thus giving a softer landing (Frederick, 1986). Barefoot runners also land mid-foot, increasing the work of the foot’s soft tissue support structures, thereby increasing their strength and possibly reducing the risk of injury (Yessis 2000, p.124).

5. Minimize back pain;

walking barefoot means, inherently, that the only heel you’re walking on is your own. Walking wearing standard shoes means, almost inevitably, you’ll have an extra heel. Any change in the orientation of the heel instantly changes the mechanics of the arch of the foot, but importantly also changes the mechanics of the low back – increasing the curve. An increased curve in the low back means that the small facet joints on the back of the spine which are not designed for weight bearing (Bogduk 2003) become loaded and, across time, painful.

6. Enhance proprioception;

70% of the body’s terminal nerve endings finish in the hands and feet. Of course, if you look to the evolution of vertebrates you find that they progressed from fish, to tetrapods (ie forelimbs and hindlimbs in touch with the ground) then finally to bipeds. Bipedalism not only requires significant balance but, by definition, means that our only two consistent points of contact with our surrounding environment are our feet. This is reflected by the fact that there are 200,000 sensory nerve endings in the sole of the foot – more than anywhere else in the body.

7. Strengthen intrinsic foot musculature;

just as when you support a broken limb with a plaster the muscles weaken and atrophy, so when you support a foot the muscles weaken and atrophy. Weak muscles make for greater injury risk, greater dependency on shoes, and impaired performance. Don’t let yourself become a statistic.

8. Maximise biomechanical performance;

funnily enough, the arches of the foot evolved that way not by chance, but for a reason. Counter to the commonly held belief that the arches are there to absorb shock, in actuality the arches are designed to store energy and return that energy to the gait cycle on the next step. Similarly, the natural arches of the spine are designed to perfectly store energy as the body “derotates” during the gait cycle (Gracovetsky 1988, 1997, 2001). Wearing shoes that “support” the arch prevent the arches from performing their function, while any change in heel height above that of the forefoot results in changes to the spinal curves compromising energy storage and recoil in these two key areas for efficiency and performance.

9. Diminish risk of bunions;

the traditional shape of shoes means that they round to a point somewhere in front of the 2nd or 3rd toe. This means that the big toe is often pushed towards the middle of the foot and the same is true of the little toe. This phenomenon coupled with a heel on the shoe – which loads the big toe even further – results in a deviation of the big toe called hallux valgus and ultimately bunions may develop.

10. Optimise balance / prevent falls;

we mentioned above (point 6) that the feet provide significant sensory feedback to the brain and are therefore critical in balance and efficient gait. However, it is sad to learn that the leading cause of death in people of the age of 65 years is not heart attacks, not cancer and not strokes – but falling (Chek 2004). In fact, 25% of elderly people who fall and fracture a hip, die within 1 year of that fall.

Here’s what people are saying about vibram fivefingers:

In the media:

New York Times

TIME Magazine – Best Inventions

“Like going barefoot but without the callouses.”

Vibram Fivefingers were named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2007.

Vogue.com – Daily News

“The Vibram FiveFingers are glove-style shoes that shield feet from the ground… …everyone from runners to yoga enthusiasts have been snapping them up.”

The Telegraph Newspaper – Kitted out

“These new rubber-soled shoes from Vibram offer the feet great protection from cold and splintered floors without sacrificing the liberating sensation of going barefoot…”

Channel Five TV – The Gadget Show

Fivefingers were featured in the ‘focus group’ section of The Gadget Show and won the vote unanimously!

New York Magazine – You walk wrong

“It took 4 million years of evolution to perfect the human foot… …when we don’t use our feet properly, our muscles have to strain to compensate — not just in our feet but in our whole body…”

T3 Magazine – Gloves for your feet

“Like a Herculean decathlete, the Fivefingers are adept at pretty much every sport going, and the snug gloveular fit ensures that you’re in control….”

Calgary Herald – Running barefoot (almost) in the city

“Fivefingers raise your awareness during workouts. You’ll love ‘em if you’re training to develop jump strength, leg endurance, balance or merely want to replicate your body’s natural movement. Athletics aside, these are the quintessential summer shoes.”

GOOD OR GOOD?

As I am a cool kinda guy, I am an agent for the UK distributer of Vibram fivefingers footwear, Primal Lifestyle.

I am not going to lie to you, the shoes are expensive, however I am going to give you a discount code for taking the time to read this blog post.

The reason why I am doing this is because I have many friends and clients who have expressed an interest in buying a pair and due to me being so busy with Personal Trainer Watford I have often forgot to get back to them. So this way I can forward them all the details on this blog (which they subscribe to anyway).

This is a step by step guide of how to get a pair:

1 Go to www.primallifestyle.co.uk

2 Pick out a funky pair of fivefingers – Go to checkout

4 ADD your discount code tsmith783

Yes…add this code to recieve your discount !!

5 Post your comments and photos on this site once you are wearing them CHRISTMAS DAY – possibly in the snow…? LOL

 

Just to warn you, a lot of stock will be selling fast before Christmas. New Year is just round the corner and many people are going to be starting their marathon training for London.

You can always get yourself a more traditional pair of running shoe for New Year and continue to develop shin spints, back pain, knee pain etc with all that added weight on your foot – thats old school. Going Barefoot is the past and now the future of running.

Of course in some cases posture, biomechanical faults, programming and other factors can cause conditions such as back pain, shin splints and knee pain. I am not saying that vibram fivefingers are a CURE – no way! They may help however if you need further assistance, I provide a consultancy in Stanmore, North London where I help people overcome sports injuries all the time! Go to Injury Rehabilitation page for more details about me and how I can help you.

I hope you love your fivefingers footwear. Let me know how you are getting on by adding your comments below.

Let me just recap on the benefits of going barefoot – whether you exercise or not!!

1. Enhanced running efficiency

2. Facilitated venous return

3. Decreased ankle sprains

4. Lowered risk of shin splints

5. Minimized back pain

6. Enhanced proprioception

7. Stronger intrinsic foot musculature

8. Maximised biomechanical performance

9. Diminished risk of bunions

10. Optimised balance and prevention of falls

 

For a discounted pair of Vibram Fingers go to www.primallifestyle.co.uk, find a pair of shoes (lots of styles and colours) and at the checkout add my discount code – tsmith783

 

In health,

 

Tom Smith

Personal Trainer and Massage Therapist for Watford

 

 

This is my take on exercise for weight loss.

The best way for weight loss is in my experience is to increase your metabolic rate, eat to your metabolic type and reduce the overall stress on the body. I’m not going to go into depth with that in this blog however it is important to know that muscle increases your metabolic rate.

All the ladies out there will be thinking, “no way am I doing weights, I don’t want to get butch like a man!” But ladies dont fear you can still do weights without getting big.

This is the problem ok, cardiovascular exercise done at a steady pace 3 x per week for 30 minutes will not help you lose weight and increase your metabolic rate. In fact, the moment you get off the treadmill your metabolic rate will return to normal. When you perform cardiovascular exercise your body can not differentiate between running on a treadmill or running to save your life from a saber tooth tiger! Ok Ok, we don’t actually need to run from tigers and elephants in the jungle now – but we did! Our physiology has not changed!

We were designed as human beings to conserve fuel NOT waste fuel running around - this is basic survival!!

So, when we perform cardiovascular exercise our body produces a hormone called Glucocorticoids this is alongside adrenaline and cortisol which are stress hormones which are secreted from the adrenal glands. Your body produces these hormones so you can run for your life and forget the pain!

Producing these hormones all the time comes at a price.

1, Glucocorticoids retard muscle strength and development (retards weight loss)

2, Over time the adrenal glands can get tired and prevent you losing weight.

So I use the Land Rover as a good analogy here when describing this. Diesel is the choice of fuel for Land Rovers, they use fuel quite slowly and can keep on going. Which in our case – running teaches you to use fuel (the foods you eat) slowly. Which is rubbish for weight loss!

The Ferrari on the other hand uses a high-octane type of fuel which the sports car will use quite quickly.

Weight training, tends to be fast, explosive and research shows that when you train to bodybuilding intensities you can stimulate your metabolic rate for the next 72 hours after exercise!! Now we are not all bodybuilders and not many aspire to be bodybuilders however it is a good way to look at it with regards to increasing your metabolic rate.

Many people also have this impression that weights is all about grunting with the men and lifting heavy weights – this is not true. Doing simple things like squats, lunges and press ups are a great way to burn calories-but at the right tempo, intensity and rest periods. The swiss ball is great too as your body is using so many muscles at once! My last post was all about training with a swiss ball so be sure to check that out.

If you want to start doing weight training safely and effectively for your weight loss goals, contact me today on 07917003212 or you can email me on info@tomsmithhealth.com.

There are some great packages available for people like you looking to lose weight on my services section.

Enjoy your day

Tom

This inspired me to write a brief blog post on why I use them so much with my clients and why many more people should use them.

My Personal Training clients love it, it is useful in a rehabilitation setting for back pain sufferers and it is a great tool for athletes that need balance type training.

Why Train with a Swiss Ball?

Training on a swiss ball is a great way to challenge your “tilting reflexes”, a reflex that when you are put on an unstable surface, your body will have to right itself to keep you upright. Imagine you are on a bus or the london underground and the surface under you moves and you have to quickly right yourself to keep you upright. Exercising on machines creates dysfunction and shuts off all your stabiliser muscles meaning when you get on the bus or tube your body may not have the stabilzer strength to prevent an injury!

Exercising on a swiss ball is a great way to increase the range of motion used during exercise.

Example:

Think of doing a sit up from the floor, when you return to the floor you are missing around 15 degrees range of motion compared to when you complete a full crunch on a swiss ball. Its like a doing a bicep curl half way up and half way down! Also sit ups from the floor is not a great way to train your abs!!

Example 2:

If you are a guy and do a lot of bench press. On a bench you actually can not fully use your shoulder girdle due to the bench, whereas on a round ball the scapula can move more freely during horizontal abduction.

Great for burning calories!

Exercising on a swiss ball uses far more mucsle groups than a machine does! By using a swiss ball you also need a lot of concentration, your nervous system is working more effectively and therefore you burn more calories!

Apart from the variety, it is great fun, more effective and can be stored at home!

Have a great day and stay off the machines!

Tom

www.tomsmithhealth.com

I was sent a great article from a friend on facebook about running barefoot. It was published by “New Scientist” magazine and it reminded me the importance of how fivefinger footwear are. For those of you who havent seen my shoes at the clinic or in the gym, you can visit the website at www.vibramfivefingers.com or check out my older blog post about the shoes, there is a cool little video too!

This is the article here from New Scientist Magazine:

“HUMANS living millions of years ago were endurance runners, but how did they do it without air-cushioned soles? The secret might have been to land on the balls of their feet.

Daniel Lieberman at Harvard University and colleagues compared the gait of endurance runners in the US and Kenya and found that more than two-thirds of those who grew up running barefoot or had trained themselves to do so as adults ran on their tiptoes, landing on the balls of the feet first (Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature08723). The trend is unusual: 80 per cent of endurance runners land heel-first.

The result suggests that our ancestors were toe-runners. This may simply reduce pain. In racetrack tests, the team showed that the impact on the foot is seven times as great in heel-first runners. “It’s like someone hitting you on the heel with a hammer three times your body weight,” says Lieberman.

This is because the collision force depends on how much mass comes to a dead stop, Lieberman says. In a heel-first runner, the lower leg stops suddenly on impact in addition to part of the foot.”

If you have running injuries or need help with improving the way you run. Feel free to contact me and we can set up a consultation. Go to my website for more details at www.tomsmithhealth.com

In Health

Tom

Resting blood pressure is measured as systolic and diastolic pressure. Systolic pressure is the upper number, reflecting the force with which blood is leaving your heart. Diastolic pressure is reflecting the force with which blood returns to your heart.

An optimal reading is less than 120 Systolic BP (mmHg) and Less than 80 Diastolic BP (mmHg). Stage 1 Hypertension is considered 140-159 systolic / 90-99 diastolic.[i] Then there is stage 2 and 3 hypertension the higher the reading from a professional Sphygmomanometer (blood pressure device).

In most cases, the client maybe a little anxious of taking part in the gym induction as they think the Personal Trainer is going to make them run until they collapse, so when they go back to their G.P. more relaxed, their blood pressure is actually fine.

However, in those cases when people are diagnosed with hypertension, is drug treatment the best way?

A variety of drug treatments have been used – diuretics, beta and calcium channel blockers, reserpine, clonidine, methyldopa – without apparent success [ii] A study of 2,000 patients with high blood pressure from 13 general practises in England showed that only a little more than half of those taking drugs for hypertension had achieved what is considered even a moderately healthy level.[iii]

I am not saying that anyone taking medication is to stop taking them. However,by addressing simple nutrition and lifestyle factors, you can go a long way to reducing High Blood Pressure as the body will be healthier and better prepared to deal with the stressful events that pop up from time to time.

When the body is stressed your adrenal glands produce hormones such as adrenaline and Cortisol. Remember, stress has many faces. Stress isn’t only a matter of worrying about a deadline or that you haven’t been able to pay a bill. It can be caused by a number of factors such as:

• Not eating correctly to your metabolic type
• Eating non Organic or poor quality foods
• Eating foods you are intolerant to
• Not enough or too much exercise
• Drinking caffeine (and other stimulants like sugar)
• Poor sleep quality
• Mental and Emotional issues
• Environmental pollutants and Toxins
• Electromagnetic stress (PCs, TV, Microwave Ovens)
• Poor digestion (elimination, fungus, parasites, bacteria infections?)

It is obvious that mental and emotional factors are indeed a stressor to the body. If you are struggling to make ends meet for example or you are constantly arguing with your spouse, that is going to activate a fight or flight response in your body via what is called a Reptilian Reflex.

We as human beings have a more developed mind set than a reptile as we have emotions and we can express them. However if you look at all life, they all have 3 major survival needs 1, Safety, 2, Sustenance (food) and 3, Reproduction (only when the first two are met). If none of those needs are met they can become a stressor to the body. In today’s world these 3 primary survival needs can be broken down into financial gain, space needs, material desires, addictive eating disorders etc.

Taking medical drugs only mask the symptoms of high blood pressure i.e. your blood pressure score may go down, but that doesn’t mean you are healthy. The body is clever, it will warn you that your body is deteriorating if you continue to treat it the way you do.

4 MUST DO tips for reducing blood pressure:

 1, Eat organic free range food whenever possible as the chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and rodenticides will place a huge burden on your detoxification system.

2, Avoid sugar! One teaspoon of sugar suppresses the immune system for 5 hours! It is also very stressful to the body.

3, Avoid the bright lights at night and get to bed by 10:30 and wake by 06:30.

4, Positive Thinking. If you affirm to yourself constantly about all the bad things that are going on in your life, you will attract more of those bad things. Thinking positively or negatively affects every cell in your body and thoughts become things.

So when you have high blood pressure and you don’t know why, it is important to consider the above and find the weak links in your nutrition and lifestyle needs FIRST before taking medication, as you may be missing the hidden cause.

[ii] Drugs for hypertension, What Doctors Don’t tell you: The truth about the dangers of modern medicine by Lynne McTaggart pg, 210

[iii] P.Sever, correspondence, The Lancet, 1994; 344: 1019-20.

In this post I want to talk about and explain what Neuromuscular Massage Therapy is.

Neuromuscular Massage Therapy is a comprehensive program of soft tissue manipulation techniques that balance the central nervous system (brain, spinal column and nerves) with the structure and form of the musculoskeletal system. NMT is based on neurological laws that explain how the central nervous system maintains homeostatic balance. These same laws dictate how the central nervous system initiates pain response.

There are five principles to Neuromuscular Massage Therapy:
1. Postural Distortion
2. Biomechanical Dysfunctions
3. Trigger Points
4. Nerve Compression / Entrapment
5. Ischemia

Ischemia is a lack of blood supply to the soft tissues, which causes them to be very sensitive touch.
Trigger Points occur when nerves fire impulses at a rapid speed into an area of the body other than that which has been traumatized. Because of trigger points, the cause of serious pain may often be far from the actual site of the pain. This, in turn, inhibits proper blood flow, which causes ischemia an often leads to more pain and discomfort.

Nerve Compression and Entrapment is pressure on a nerve by bone, cartilage or soft tissue. The role of the soft tissues in nerve compression is vital. Failure to treat the associated soft tissue often treats the symptom without eliminating the cause of the pain. Nerve entrapment is the most common type of pain and always causes ischemia. Ignored, it can produce associated trigger points.

Postural Distortion or muscular contraction occurs when there is an imbalance of the musculoskeletal system resulting from movement of the body off the coronal, midsagital or horizontal planes. When the body tries to compensate in an effort maintain structural balance, muscle contraction, body distortion, and pain result. For example, lower limb-length inequality can cause a tilted pelvis, which usually results in a compensatory scoliosis that is maintained by sustained muscular effort.

Biomechanical Dysfunction is an imbalance of the musculoskeletal system resulting in faulty movement patterns. Repetitive strain of certain soft tissue result in adapted movement patterns that become muscular “habits” and must be reeducated.

Visceral (Organ) Manipulation

Neuromuscular Massage Therapy also incorporates the use of visceral (organ) manipulation. This is important when posture, diet and stress have made a negative impact on the function of any given organ due to its inter-relationship with the body. When an organ is under stress it can contribute to herniated discs, headaches, back pain, and distorted breathing patterns via a visceral somatic reflex.

How is Neuromuscular Massage Therapy Performed?

During the initial visit, which is generally 60 minutes, I measure various structures of the body to evaluate for postural distortions and biomechanical dysfunction. This analysis will point to the cause and effect of pain. I then palpate the soft tissues to determine if there are problems with ischemia, trigger points, and nerve compression/entrapment. Once the evaluation is complete, a specific protocol of rehabilitation is designed to produce the most efficient and long-lasting results. The steps in this protocol are as follows:

1. Locate and eliminate spasms, hyper-contraction and trigger points from the soft tissues
2. Restore postural alignment, proper biomechanics or movement patterns
3. Restore flexibility and increase blood flow to the tissues
4. Rebuild strength of the injured, weak, and/or atrophied tissues
5. Build endurance of the tissues for permanent results

How many treatments does a patient need?

This question varies with each individual, depending upon the severity of their condition, nutritional and emotional health, age, fitness etc. One person may need only one session, while another may need 25 sessions. Generally after about 6 sessions the patient feels a great improvement in their health. Once the problem is eliminated, the patient should have a treatment every few months to maintain their health and help prevent future imbalances from occurring. I believe the healing process should also be an educational process, and to educate the patient about their health and how to improve and maintain it on their own.

If you need an assessment to rid yourself of back pain, neck pain or even to improve your bodies ability to tolerate exercise. Contact Tom Smith Health and Performance at the Stanmore Chiropractic Clinic near Harrow, Watford, Bushey and London. Call today on 020 8954 8311.

Take care for now

In Health,

Tom

I hope you all had a fantastic time over Christmas and New Year spending it with the people you love and enjoyed the snow! For me, over the Christmas I visited my family in Yorkshire.

2010 is going to be a great year for me, lots of studying, blogging, clients, and I can say I am getting married next year! So lots of work to do!!

I want to thank my family for such a great time over Christmas, here are some moments of madness in Wetherby!

I wish you all the best for 2010

In Health,

Tom

However is all that money worth the back/and or neck pain that comes with it?

In this article I am going to talk to you about how the seated workplace contributes to headaches, neck pain, back pain, eye fatigue and how you can overcome them with some simple solutions.

The poor workstation and its effect on pain

This is not rocket science, we all know that the work station is really important to be correct for your ergonomics such as the screen height and position, keyboard height, seat height etc… However is it always correct? No!

Many companies fail to even acknowledge the basics when it comes to correct ergonomics. I have seen it with clients that come to me with the issues I am about to discuss.

If your computer screen is too low and off centre this will require constant neck flexion and rotation leading to a lot of discomfort and overload to those muscles and structures. When muscles are under constant strain, as seen in Forward Head Posture (where the head migrates forward from its anatomical position), the muscles in the cervical spine (neck) will lose blood flow and trigger points will develop. Travell and Simons who are experts in Trigger Points define them as:

“A focus of hyperirritability in tissue that, when compressed, is locally tender and, if significantly hypersensitive, gives rise to referred pain”.

Trigger Points can be mistaken for headaches, back pain, neck tension and even migraine!!

 How do you eliminate Trigger Points?

As well as designing corrective exercise programs for back pain sufferers, I use soft tissue techniques like Neuromuscular Therapy and Sports Massage Therapy to locate and deactivate trigger points with my hands.

Vision and the Workplace

Our eyes are not designed to stare which is another habit we develop when sitting on the job or even watching TV!! Most people look at a screen all day, go home and then watch TV for the rest of the evening!

Our eyes are designed to look around; I use software on my computer which allows the screen to move, avoiding long periods of staring when using the computer and even writing this article.

William Bates, a Medical Doctor who practiced ophthalmology and developed what became known as the Bates Method for better eyesight, an educational method intended to improve vision by undoing a supposed habitual strain to see.

He taught exercises to correct vision as the muscles around the eye can become weak as a result of staring. This means when we wear glasses or contact lenses we are just correcting the symptoms and not the cause of why we have bad eyes in the first place!!

Remember that when you are forking out a load of cash on multiple sets of glasses from the Opticians, who do you think is benefitting there??

After talking with Owen Leigh, a Behavioral Optometrist based in Hampshire who practices these techniques, told me that the exercises can not restore 20/20 vision (if you have eye sight as bad as mine) but can greatly improve your visual system. I think this should be assessed and addressed first by someone like Owen prior to having any form of corrective laser surgery.

If you sit at a desk all day, try these simple solutions first

• Set an alarm by your workstation to go off every 15 minutes to remind you to sit up straight.
• Pay attention to your breathing, taking some deep long breath’s automatically brings the head back and up.
  So when the alarm goes off, you can take four long deep breaths. Your posture is then re-adjusted for the next few minutes.
• Blink!!
• And if you are an expert try to blink three times while breathing in and out….. etc
• Take regular breaks from your screen.

Sitting up straight for long periods may be tiresome however just think of the exercise your postural muscles will be receiving. You do not need a Personal Trainer for that!

If you would like relief from back pain or neck pain call for an appointment today on 0208 954 8311 or visit my web page at www.personaltrainerwatford.com  

In Health

Tom

I just want to talk to you about the benefits of coconut oil.

1. Coconut oil is fantastic to cook with. Personally, I need a lot of fats and proteins in my diet due to my rapid food oxidation rates, ask my mum! I use coconut oil for the healthy fats, but also because it can withstand very high temperatures when cooking with it, it can heat up to about 300 degrees! When you cook with Vegetable oils, Olive oils, Sunflower oils etc the fats go rancid and it can create inflammation in the gut.
2. It contains high levels of lauric acid, what the body uses to make monolaurin, a disease-fighting fatty acid derivative. Lauric acid has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties that protect the body against various infections and boost the immune system.
3. It also helps speed up the metabolism if you are trying to lose weight!

Ok, I have given you a few reasons on why we should consume coconut oil. You can but it from my good friend Karen Maidment an Advanced Metabolic Typing Adviser and CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach from Cheltenham. Visit her shop at http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/pure-body-balance-shop__W0QQ_armrsZ1 to buy some. It is certified organic and not been denatured by processing.  

For more info on diet, weight loss and exercise conditioning. Contact me and set up a free consultation.

In Health,

Tom

It is the assumption that we must do aerobic exercise three times a week, cut down the amount of food we eat and cut out the fat. This means saturated fat from animal sources and oils. Fats from animal sources also contain cholesterol, presented as a twin villain to the civilized diet.

It has been said that eating fat makes you fat, saturated fats (such as those found in butter, eggs, and red meat) are unhealthy. And yet-despite our efforts to eliminate saturated fats from our diet for fear of high cholesterol levels and hardened arteries – obesity, heart disease, and cancer rates have continued to climb.

In place of a low fat diet it is typically advised to consume more carbohydrates like breads, pastas and whole grains which have been highly refined and processed and can lead to many problems. This imbalance of eating a high carbohydrate and low fat diet can produce high and low blood sugar levels. When blood sugar levels go too high, insulin (a fat storing hormone) kicks in to lower your blood sugar levels. Remember this when you feel tired after eating a meal. Insulin makes you put on fat not eating fat itself!!

Now, everyone is different and one mans food is another mans poison. Everyone’s requirements of the macronutrients, Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are different. That is why I test my clients before they even consult with me in order to create balance from the inside out.

In the 1950’s a researcher named Ancel Keys proposed a theory called lipid hypothesis which concluded that saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet had a direct relationship with coronary heart disease. Numerous research has pointed out flaws in this data and companies that benefited from this (such as vegetable oil and food processing companies) worked very hard to produce research that supported this theory.

There was some research recently published on the BBC News about how organic food was no different nutritionally to conventional grown food – you have to ask who did the research?

Fats are in fact good for us, if you want to lose weight they help slow down digestion and necessary for the assimilation for the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

Eating a diet low in fat can lead to energy level fluctuations, mineral deficiencies weight gain and poor recovery from exercise.

Fats to Consume

1. Organic, free-range animal meats and fats such as lard, coconut oil etc. Good for cooking at high heat.
2. Fish (Or due to the high levels of heavy metals and other toxins in fish today, high quality fish-oil supplements may be a good option. These should come from wild fish that have been filtered for heavy metal toxicity and other metal toxicity.)
3. Organic, free-range eggs – the whole complete egg including the yolk, which should be kept intact during cooking to prevent oxidizing the cholesterol in the yolk. Best methods are boiling or low-temperature poaching and frying.
4. Raw nuts, soaked before eating to break down the phyto-nutrients and makes all the nutrients more bio-available.
5. Avocados – a good source of monounsaturated oleic acid.
6. Cold-pressed, unfiltered organic olive oil – a good source of monounsaturated oleic acid and may be used for cooking at moderate temps.
7. Butter, raw if possible – Butter has many benefits including fat-soluble vitamins, short and medium chain FA, small, but equal amounts of ?-3 and ?-6 FA, conjugated linoleic acid (if the butter is from pasture-fed cows only – this has strong anti-cancer properties), lecithin, cholesterol, trace minerals and more.
8. Ghee (clarified butter)
9. Coconut oil or butter – high in medium-chain FA that is good for using at high heat.
10. Pumpkin seed oil
11. Flax seed oil –Always keep refrigerated and never heat.
12. Castor oil
13. Cod liver oil
14. Palm oil – Good for cooking at high heat.

Fats to avoid or limit

1. Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils – These contain trans-fatty acids that look more like plastic that fats under a microscope. Your body is not designed to eat plastics!
2. Canola oil – Has a high sulphur content, goes rancid easily, contains trans-fatty acids (created during deodorizing of oil), can cause deficiency of Vitamin E and may cause fibrotic heart lesions.
3. Soy oil – highly processed
4. Corn, safflower, cottonseed and sunflower oils
5. Peanut and sesame oils – OK for cooking at moderate temps

In Health

Tom