De-stressing and Biofeedback

Once upon a time, I had a little girl named Annika come into my life. From about the time she was 12 months old I knew I had a sporty girl on my hands — she learned to kick a soccer ball and walk at the same time.

Now 14, she loves nearly all sports, is crazy competitive, and is super high energy. Then last fall, while retrieving a ball in the back of a soccer goal, someone fired on goal and took her by complete surprise, beaming her squarely on the side of the head and knocking her over.

My older daughter called me right away and my heart sank as she said, “Mom, Annika has a concussion.”

Oh no. Oh no.

This was her second concussion.

I immediately got on the horn and got her into the two people I thought could help her the most: her godmother Kim Dewey who is the best massage therapist on the planet, and a BodyTalk practitioner named Sandra Weinrich who does brain balancing using a tapping technique. I wanted to keep her body from establishing this trauma mode as a new way to be as much as I could in this acute injury phase. More about both ladies in future blogs.

Concussion after effects

We got her western medicine doctor’s eventual clearance, and she returned to soccer.

However, I began to notice two things: she wasn’t doing well in school and she wasn’t wearing her glasses anymore. The other thing I noticed was that she was constantly agro – got mad instantly, and snapped at both her sister and I at the drop of a hat.

Such a short temper, and no matter what I used to try and soothe her, it backfired. Was it food or low blood sugar? No. Was it lack of exercise? No. Was it stress and being a teenager and her first semester of high school? Well, maybe, but it still seemed a bit severe. Was it sleep? Maybe, and she complained of waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep.

Why couldn’t she calm down?

I got her a tutor. I got her a second tutor. I made sure she ate protein constantly to stabilize her blood sugar, and encouraged her to sleep more. I bugged her about her glasses and she still wouldn’t wear them. Finals were looming and it was looking disastrous for her. She was clearly very stressed- almost in a panic- and nothing seemed to help.

Then I finally connected with the magical Ruby Nantz.

I had been hunting her for some time– I was given her name as an exceptional biofeedback specialist a few years ago and finally tracked her down to get Annika an appointment. Anything to try and de-stress this kid. I had to threaten to take away nearly everything to get Annika to agree to the appointment. She’s stubborn on top of everything else!

Hang on: Biofeed-what?

This is NASA research coming in to help the common man. Remember Apollo 13? Houston was trying to track the vitals of the astronauts to make sure they were happy and healthy. Things like heart rate, respiration, etc. You’ve seen it in every space movie… whenever the astronaut is in a danger place, and hyperventilating, and sucking down too much oxygen… all the sensors are lighting up and telling him/her to calm down! Well, turns out the sensor lead wires were itchy. The astronauts would yank them off. The scientists back home needed another way to track vitals.

Enter biofeedback.

Quantum Biofeedback works on retraining your brain with frequency as it responds to stress. There are several different wavelengths in the brain- alpha, delta, beta, and theta.

The goal is to bring you into theta mode: this is the calm, excellent memory and recall, zen-like inner consciousness.

Annika’s theta wavelength score was 6. It is supposed to be closer to 100.

Yikes.

We had some balancing to do!

Quantum Biofeedback uses the Galvanic skin response…like a lie detector test. The device gives a readout on reaction in severity. She looks at what might be stressing her so it can be released.

Ruby had Annika sit with ankles and hands uncrossed while she put straps on her head, ankles, and wrists which connected her with the machine.

Her setup was this: a laptop, the biofeedback machine, and the wires. Pretty quick and easy setup.

At first, Annika sat still while Ruby ran tests. Then she got sleepy, so we helped her lie down. Ruby smiled. “it’s all a part of the process,” she said. All the while, her brain was being scanned, checking the frequency, and balancing the frequencies.

Fascinating.

Then she woke up. Sat up. Ruby smiled again. She said to Annika, “Why don’t you try studying something now that you need for your finals this week.” She watched the two hemispheres of her brain connect and talk to each other. “Good,” she said.

Guess what her suggestion for studying was? Just like my blog from last week, her suggestion was to study something for 45 minutes, and then go exercise for fifteen minutes. “That brings it into muscle memory,” she said. Sound familiar? Ruby isn’t even Finnish! 🙂

Apparently the CIA uses that fact in teaching new languages. Did you know you can learn a new language in three weeks? Exercise while you learn!

Would you like to contact Ruby and get into the Theta Groove? She works in the Portland Metro area. Here is her email: eternallightdancer@gmail.com

Let’s get this party started

It is the New Year. Time to sort out your priorities, get focused, write down your goals, and get this 2016 party started!

Isn’t it?

I know I wrote that it is unwise to go against the nature’s natural cycle – it is winter and time to hunker down, rather than fire up. Wait for spring, when new life begins to bud out, flowers start to bloom, and nature begins the restart cycle. With this philosophy, March is the new January. 🙂

This tip isn’t really a resolution, and at the same time it is brilliant in it’s simplicity. Not a goal, just food for thought.

Finnish inspiration

First, let me explain the inspiration for this productivity tip. To do that, we must travel to the lovely country of Finland.

Did you know that the National Center for Education Statistics runs a program for international student assessment? They look at math, science, and reading literacy and rank countries based on their students’ test scores. Every three years they compiled data from 2000-2012  and looked at trends in student performance: international trends in average scores.

Turns out the Finnish students came in 12th in Math, while their USA counterparts were ranked 36th. In Science Finnish students were 5th, USA kids were 28th. Reading? Finland=6 USA=24. These scores make USA look pretty lame by comparison. 

How about our children?

Should bright USA children be shipped off to a Scandinavian country in order to prosper? No, it’s easier than that. Once upon a time, there was a USA kinesiology professor named Debbie Rhea who had a six week sabbatical in Finland and was trying to discover the differences between her school back home and what she saw happening in school in Finland.

What did she see?

Finnish parents hovering over their kids bent over homework late into the night? Longer school days? School on the weekends? Tutors for all children paid for by the government? Teachers available 24/7 via Skype?

Nope.

Instead, she saw more of this:

WHAT? What are those kids doing?

Oh.

They are playing outside. Having recess. As a matter of fact in Finland, they have recess for 15 minutes EVERY HOUR.

Doesn’t that sound like a dream? Especially if you are a kid!

The Liink Project

Rhea was so impressed, she formed a program called the Liink Project. Her mission: to inspire schools to have more play to help kids have better focus, pay attention, improve listening skills, and increase test scores. She has 7 schools enrolled in her program, with more coming on board all the time.

Turns out, in a story published on today.com, Debbie Rhea was quoted as saying, “The key is “unstructured play,” which Rhea described as kids being allowed to run, play and make up their own games while teachers mostly stay on the sidelines to make sure everyone is safe. The breaks should take place outdoors because fresh air, natural light and vivid colors all have a big impact on the brain and its function, she added.”

(I love that she is a kinesiology professor- the study of movement.)

What is the result of all of this recess?

One teacher interviewed said, ” Her students are less fidgety and more focused. They listen more attentively, follow directions and try to solve problems on their own instead of coming to the teacher to fix everything. There are fewer discipline issues.”

 “We’re seeing really good results,” she noted.

Guess what: she’s talking about kindergarteners and first graders. 5, 6, and 7 year olds!

At our house, we called it “getting your crazies out”. My younger daughter would say, “Mom, can I run around the outside of the house ten times?” and off she would go. Then, and only then, could she focus back on her homework.

What is the takeaway?

Do not sit at your desk for endless hours. Remember: Sitting is the new smoking? Your hips, back, neck, knees, and feet are suffering. Your brain is suffering. Your attention span, focus, and creativity: all compromised.

GET UP AND MOVE!

FREQUENTLY!

OUTSIDE IF POSSIBLE!

There is research to back it! Show your boss this blog post. Print it, laminate it, and post it over the coffee maker or water fountain. 

Put a reminder with an alarm in your phone.  It beeps, you get up.

Simple as that.

More movement, more productivity! Share on X

Imagine being able to actually walk or run on air.

Wouldn’t that be cool? What if you actually needed to, because you were recovering from an injury? The solution is here! Enter the Alter G Treadmill. It feels like you are running in a bouncy house!

I found this one at a physical therapy clinic, but some fancy clubs and universities have them as well. The beautiful part is you can program the amount of pressurized air once the chamber is ready to go to any amount of gravity you want. Come look!

Step one:

There are special neoprene shorts you have to wear to make a seal so the pressurized air can’t leak out. Here is Ian pulling those on…they feel like a wetsuit.

Second:

You step over the metal bar and into the plastic pressurized chamber area. The metal frame is lifted up and locked into place.

Third:

Zip the two zippers all the way around you to connect the shorts to the machine and create a seal….

Fourth:

Pick your percentage of gravity ( in the blue box to the left) and your speed just like a normal treadmill…. The image on the screen comes from three strategically placed cameras on the outside of the treadmill that allow you to watch the way your knee articulates, the way your ankle bends, and your foot strike. Totally interesting!

Fifth:

Really, it is ideal if there were a Timbers or Thorns professional soccer game going on to keep you entertained out the windows, but this is also what the whole thing looks like fully inflated and in use. A mini bouncy house!

Sixth:

To disembark, just reverse the steps above…unzip, bring the metal frame down, and step over the bars carefully. It is always an unusual feeling to step back on terra firma after getting off a treadmill, and this is no exception.

I zipped myself in sideways for fun, because I love to walk like a crab – (check out my previous blog about that ) – but once that side gets tired it is a bit cumbersome to unzip and spin to the other side.

Have you used one of these treadmills before? How did you like it? Let us know in the comments below. Happy New Year!

Shake it Off

Have you heard the song by Taylor Swift called  “Shake it Off”?
Well, it turns out that catch phrase is actually a key component to our health.

Shaking? What?

How can that be?

Let me explain what I mean by starting with a story. I have a client named Glad who is fascinated with all things natural, and is willing to try just about anything to improve her health. That is one of many things that I adore about her. She’s the girl with the infrared sauna in her garage, for instance.

Don’t you have one? 🙂

Anyway, for the last twenty- something years, she has been shaking primarily in her upper body in the most inopportune times. In the middle of a massage. While doing biofeedback. Working out with me.

No one has been able to tell her why she does this, including her doctors.

She figured there was something wrong with her. I wasn’t so sure there was something wrong, but I agreed it certainly was an interesting response to various situations.

Then another client of mine told me about an alternative technique that she used to reset her body that involved tremors – shaking, if you will.

It’s called TRE: Tension and Trauma Release Exercise. 

Sounded fascinating! Was this what Glad was experiencing?

“What do you mean by reset?” I asked.

“Go see my PT Chelesa. She can explain it better than I can, ” my other client KC said.

I looked at Glad and said, “Let’s go on a fact-finding mission. We will call this PT and make back to back new client sessions, go together, and then ask her to teach us as much as she can squeeze in to our joint appointments.”

“Okay,” said Glad, and off we went.

When we arrived and announced our intentions to Chelesa, she clapped her hands and said, “This is going to be fun!”

I don’t think I’ve ever heard those words cross a PT’s lips. 🙂

She started by explaining that all mammals and all humans have the innate ability to de-stress and de-traumatize their bodies and return their individual systems to homeostasis. Back to a happy place. Mammals are super good at it, and humans tend to shut that mechanism down. Silly humans teach themselves to power through things and push forward without letting the body physically release the effects of the stress or trauma. Not good for humans, all that stored stress.

Run for your life

She took a gazelle eating lunch in a meadow by way of an example. There the gazelle is, happily munching away, and then all of a sudden a lion decides he wants the gazelle for his lunch. He chases her, and she runs, and he chases, and she runs, and runs and runs for her life. She escapes this time! However, her body is in complete Fight or Flight mode from all that stress of being chased by a lion. How in the world can she EVER return to THAT meadow where she had to RUN FOR HER LIFE?

Won’t she quake in the bushes, forever longingly looking out at all the other gazelles happily eating their lunch in the meadow, wishing she had the nerve to set foot out there again? No. That’s silly in the gazelle world.

It’s easy. Be a gazelle. Shake it off!

She allows the tremor mechanism to happen, and completely shakes and trembles all over. This physically releases the tension accumulated from the chase, lets go all that is not necessary or needed, and resets herself neurologically. Homeostasis. Happy place.

Back to lunch in the meadow! 🙂 

Glad and I were shown a very simple series of exercises to warm up for the big TRE exercise. It is proprietary and I am not allowed to replicate it here for you; however, we were told that there are many yoginis for instance that have a yoga pose that makes them shake. Instead of stopping the shake by simply moving to the next pose, they instead invite it to continue. Normally you would judge the shake as being bad– you’re not strong enough, this pose it too much for you, you’re too tired to continue, etc.

Shake for release

Consider the shake in your body as an invitation to RELEASE.

Release the stress or tension of something relatively innocuous as being in traffic. However, bear in mind it is not just for the trivial: TRE is used for very serious stress and trauma release. The trauma of coming back from war. Of witnessing a horrific accident. Losing a loved one. The beautiful thing is, it rarely is accompanied by a memory. Sometimes it is, but lots of times it isn’t.  That is pretty cool for people who don’t want to or simply can’t talk it out.

Here’s the single most important statement Chelesa had to say, coming from my perspective. She noted that most trauma or stress comes into the body on one side, and there it stays Share on X.  It creates a one-sided, or unilateral imbalance. She gets great results with TRE by releasing the stress, and then people can move bilaterally, symmetrically, and in a balanced fashion. This is how she creates function, even with all of her formal PT training! 

Fascinating! 

If you live in Portland, you are in luck. I just got this email from her today:

Dear Laura,

• I am excited to announce the dates for 2016 winter TRE (Tension and Trauma Release Exercise) classes. I will be offering Intro group class for people new to TRE or for people who prefer a small group to explore their practice, and a regular Drop-in classes.
  

  Intro TRE series: Monday nights at 4pm. Each series consists of 4, 1.25 hour classes. Class is limited to 6 to 8 participants. Cost $125 for the series, to register please call Kwan Yin East, 503-701-8766 ext 2. 
  January series: January 4th, 11th, 18th,and 25th. 
  February series: February 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd.
  March series: March 14th, 21st, 28th, and April 4th.
  

  Drop-in class: This class is for people who have previously been instructed in TRE. Monday nights at 5:30pm at Kwan Yin East. This is an ongoing class– come as often or as little as you like. Class is limited to 12 people. Cost $10. No registration is required. 
  

  If you have questions about TRE, please contact me directly at calbrecht.dpt@gmail.com
  


So there you have it! A completely new way to get your symmetry on and de-stress your body!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. 

Let’s continue with our winter off-season Top 8 golf tips from my friend the Titleist certified golf instructor Connie. Remember, her biggest “ah-ha” moment was when she applied her golf training principles to her “everyday” clients. That means YOU, even if you abhor golf!

First (or 5th) exercise: Lateral Hop

Let’s try a lateral hop from side to side. Here is Maggie using the lines from a section of indoor track to create a start and finish. Push thru your heels and see if you can get that glute to fire on take off.

Go from the right to the left, or left to the right. Try 2 sets of 10 to start.

 

Second (or 6th) exercise: One knee side plank

This is another difficult core exercise. The difficulty lies in the fact that normally you would have both feet on the ground. Notice that one knee is on the ground, and the other foot is lifted.

Now lift the outside leg more to get that glute! Remember, feel the glute, not the quad or your back or something else. Use your shoulder blade to anchor the elbow on the ground. Don’t let your core collapse.

 

Third (or 7th) exercise: Half (sort of) Moon… with a little help

This deceptively simple exercise is designed to work on balance and opening the hip. It is always a good idea to work on balance once you’re a little tired, which is why we put it late in the line up. Stand next to something you can lightly grab onto. Draw the leg back, and then rotate and open up the leg in the air’s hip to the sky. What muscles are working?

 

Fourth (or 8th, saving my favorite for last) exercise: Scapular Retraction

Grab some very light weights (these are 5#) and stand with your palms facing forward and elbows bent to ninety degrees. Now you are going to retract your shoulder blades together (squeeze them low down.) This should be relatively easy. The problem is, we need those shoulder blades to also be able to retract when you address the ball– aka lean over.

What happens when you lean over? Do you shoulders fall forward with those all-of-a-sudden-now-kind-of heavy weights? Aaaah. Now you see what I am talking about. Once you can keep them where they were before you tipped forward, then squeeze and release the bottoms of the shoulder blades to start to get them strong. If you need shoulder blade anatomy review, re-read this blog on foam roller exercises. 

There you are! Some of the latest and greatest from the golf world! Let us know how you liked them in the comments below.

Ever wish you had a person to ask about your golf swing? More importantly, now that winter is approaching, what can you do to strength train in the off season specifically for golf?

I have the good fortune of working with a Titelist trained golf coach and personal trainer- my friend Connie Bear. I interviewed her recently about her recommendations, and she was kind enough to share her ( drumroll please….)

Top 8 tips for golf strength.

You’ll recognize her tips as being right in line with the Just Muscles philosophy.

She did have several interesting observations when working with her own clients. For instance, when she used her “golf principles” on her “everyday” clients, everybody was happier. Stronger, more balanced, fitter – you name it. Not to mention better golfers. Cool, huh.

We are going to break up her top 8 into two parts, because there are lots of pictures. Be sure to catch us again for Part Two in two weeks.

First of all, Connie says, you need a stable base for golf swing. Your feet are the only thing in contact with the ground. Check.

By the way- guess what popular phrase Titelist likes to use, when it comes to muscles.

Glutes are king, and Abs are queen! Share on X

Aaah. Music to my glute- loving ears. Makes me want to be a golfer! )

Second of all, get what is supposed to move moving, and what supposed to be stable stable. Remember our quick biomechanics lesson? Bodies like to have alternating stable and mobile joints. One joint can move because the joint above and below it is stable. For instance: necks like to be mobile, while shoulder blades are stable; mid backs like to be mobile and low backs stable, and hips like to be mobile. One joint has to hold still so another can move.

Ring a bell?

Therefore, you need hip mobility and hinging, torso mobility, core stability, glute strength, leg strength, and scapular ( shoulder blade) stabilization.

That’s all. No biggie, right?

Well, guess what. You need all of those things for any sport, or even to garden successfully. 🙂

What are we waiting for? Let’s get started!

Golf Tip #1

Here we see Connie with her hands on a stick keeping her shoulders at 90 degrees while she internally rotates one knee and hip at a time to 45 degrees. Tight anywhere? Do both sides work equally?

Golf Tip #2

This is called the “reverse clam”. Start on your side with your knee bent to ninety degrees and in the air, then pivot it down towards the ground. You are working on internal rotation again. 

Golf Tip #3

Open book for thoracic ( middle of back) spine mobility
Step one: stay on your side with your knees bent

Step two: place bottom arm on op of knees; and bend elbow, placing on sides of ribs

Step three: keep knees still as rotate upper body back, pulling elbow back and open up mid back

Golf Tip #4

Here we move into a strength mode…this one is called “Kneeling: down chop”

Step one:
Kneel and grab stretchy band or handle from cable machine over shoulder

Step two:
Pull down towards opposite hip like you are chopping wood

Come on back in two weeks- to be continued!

How did you like these four to start? Let us know in the comments below, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you suffer from ceo-itis?

That is a word I made up a long time ago that captured highly intelligent powerful clients of mine (executives as well as moms!) who were busy making decisions all day long. When it came time to figure out how or what to do to exercise, they suffered from decision making fatigue, and found themselves doing nothing in the face of so many choices.

I was reminded of this conundrum the other day when my very crazy busy brother caught me on the phone and said, “I was calling to ask you what you thought I should do to exercise.” I was really surprised. He normally throws himself on a bike and rides big chunks of miles in the early hours of the morning. However, he has a nagging shoulder thing, had a previous foot thing, and is traveling far more than he has in awhile. All of this cut severely into his outdoor biking.

My suggestion was to hit a group exercise format class. Your job is to show up, and let the instructor do the rest– play music, tell you what to do, and if you can follow along you are all set. 

In that group exercise spirit, I had the great pleasure of being invited to try out a class whose International Headquarters happen to be in downtown Portland, OR. 

Ever heard of NIA? 

I had seen the class taking place at Club Sport where I work, and had attended a class probably a decade ago.  It used to stand for “non-impact aerobics” but later more accurately morphed into “neuromuscular integrative action“. Coincidentally, Nia in Swahili means “with purpose“. The founders noticed their 50+ teachers in their aerobics studio were constantly injured. That isn’t good for business. 

The website breathemovedance.com states, “They began to seek for a way to exercise based on comfort, passion, and pleasure. As they learned more about the martial arts, they took off their shoes. Their discoveries revolutionized fitness styles and is now recognized as one of the most innovative and safe cardiovascular programs to date.” 

Barefoot is brilliant. 

We’ve talked about the barefoot running revolution in an earlier blog. We know that the more cushion a shoe has, the less the lower leg muscles have to work and the more injuries come about with the lower leg and foot. Additionally, we have talked about the importance of doing intervals. The entire length of a song is certainly a long interval, but they take a measured break in between songs, and this qualifies it as a interval workout. 

The choreography is what they call Fusion Fitness.

There are nine distinct movement forms in three categories: dance, martial arts, and healing arts. Specifically, they target jazz, modern, and Duncan dance; tai chi, tae kwon do, and aikido; and yoga, Feldenkrais, and Alexander Technique. Mix in an incredibly eclectic play list and you’ve got infinite possibilities. Plus you know you are in a fun place when there is a disco ball on the ceiling!

I brought along a cute (he says cute is for bunnies and prefers “ruggedly handsome” 😉 male scientist to test out this class and get the logical male perspective. There were 8 people in class with us and one other man. I was impressed with the variety of moves, the variety of music, and the fun of being barefoot while dancing around. At all times the instructor demonstrated level 1, level 2, and level 3 moves within moves. So was our scientist. The only part he had a hard time with was the “free dance” time, and he thought that most guys might also have a hard time with it. 

I have observed over time that most women take advantage of group exercise dance classes far more than men, so the ration of men to women in class was what I have seen in all other formats. Why men don’t get in there and shake their booty is beyond me, especially single men. What a great place to meet women! 🙂 

Finally, Nia offers nuances of Nia in various class formats that I took photos of on the way out. Here are a few on their calendar:

Get a jump start on those holidays! Need a little variety in your workout? Try Nia, or something that is letting someone else make the safe and sane exercise decisions. These guys have thought this through! Make sure whatever you choose, you feel better when you leave and long term doesn’t cause problems.

Have you ever used a group format to get your workout done? Which one? What do you like or dislike about it? 

 

I could summarize this blog with just photos of my 50-something client Suzanne.

Do this:

Do LESS of this:

Do MORE of this:

Do way LESS of this:

Stress habits 

How about we shift gears and let me tell you about my client Bernadette. She’s a career girl in her 50s with all kids out of the house currently.

She came to the Club with the usual goals of losing weight (specifically in her midsection), having more energy, and fixing her knee soreness. I asked her what she did on a regular basis for workouts.

“Nothing, and then I will run on the treadmill for 50 minutes, and then nothing again for awhile.”

Same speed?

“Same speed. 6 mph.”

I asked her a standard question: What she had for breakfast yesterday. “Nothing. Starbucks latte on the way to work after my treadmill workout.”

No breakfast except Starbucks? Hmn. What about lunch? What time was lunch?

” Around 11:30 I ate a salad.”

Okay, if that was the first time she ate, then when was dinner the night before?

“I ate around 9pm, and then went out for wine after. I think I went to bed around midnight, and had to get up at 5:30am for my workout.”

This is such a typical example of stories I hear day in and day out. Let’s return to the Bernadette situation in just a moment. It is pretty obvious to me what part of the problem might be, so let’s problem solve this together.

First of all, what exactly are the exercise recommendations for women in their 50s and beyond, maybe in menopause or peri menopause?

Terminology

However, before I launch into that, here is a quick glossary of terms. Please understand this is a complex concept and there are a lot of factors to take into consideration, including insulin and estrogen and progesterone, so let’s just concentrate on 4 major concepts that you can have an immediate impact on.

SSC= steady state cardio, meaning endless minutes spent jogging on the treadmill or elliptical at the same pace

HIIT= high intensity interval training, where you push your heart rate/work rate up really high until you are sucking wind

Cortisol= The stress hormone that is released in response to all types of stressors. Because exercise forces the body to deviate temporarily from homeostasis ( natural set-point), it is perceived by the body as a stress and causes the release of cortisol. Cortisol increases available fuel during exercise or fasting by increasing blood sugar levels. Think: fight or flight response

HGH= Human Growth Hormone, the stuff they give to little kids when they won’t grow. Production drops off precipitously at age 20, and is best produced naturally by anaerobic (HIIT) workouts. It supports lean body mass on a cellular level.

First Exercise Recommendation:

Do not entertain the thought of anything over 30 minutes of SSC. Anything over 20-30 minutes of SSC increases cortisol secretion by (drumroll…..)

150%.

That is a lot.

What is cortisol in charge of? A whole bunch of things, including storing belly fat. Prolonged cortisol elevations can stimulate fat cell growth in the abdomen, can lead to muscle loss, and decline in metabolism. High cortisol levels can also increase cravings for sweet, salty, and fatty foods, and mess with your thyroid and sex hormones.

Maybe that is where the midsection frustration originates with Bernadette.

Want a belly? Here is the best scenario for that: Go the same speed indoors for 45 minutes when you do your cardio.

Bernadette does 50 minutes. Even better! 🙁

What then are the alternatives?

If keeping cortisol low is key in staving off belly fat, then how do you go about that?

• Want to lower your cortisol? Go outside!
• Want to lower your cortisol? Strength train two times a week!
• Want to lower your cortisol? Do restorative exercise (yoga, foam roller, etc) two times a week!
• Want to lower your cortisol? Work out hard in the early part of the day, and save your yoga for later.
• Want to lower your cortisol? Do a 10 minute bout of HIIT training reaching 90% of VO2 max. (Fancy word for the maximum volume of oxygen uptake your body can use) This will raise cortisol (acute cortisol elevations help burn fat; prolonged cortisol elevations cause the belly fat problem) but also stimulate HGH at the same time which is great! You will be massively out of breath! Awesome! *Caveat: Do not do HIIT with adrenal exhaustion, which I will not get into here.

 

Cable Weights

What to watch for

Anything else to watch out for when it comes to cortisol? Here are some things that jack it up:

• Blood sugar imbalances (make sure you always eat a carb with a protein or fat, not by itself to slow digestion of the carb and therefore not spike blood sugar levels!)
• skipping meals
• low calorie diets
• sleep deprivation (less than 6 hours)
• inflammation or infections
• food allergies
• caffeine
• alcohol
• toxins
• physical, environmental, dietary, or mental stress

The best thing you can do is exercise regularly Share on X Muscle contractions increase glucose (blood sugar) receptors on cells, allowing the cell to process more energy. Said a different way: the more exercise you get, the more sugar your body can handle without experiencing metabolic consequences. Resistance training is again, the best.

Are you a Cortisol Queen?

Bernadette is a CORTISOL QUEEN.

Her blood sugar is imbalanced from the big gaps in eating– 9pm to 11am! She skipped breakfast. She had caffeine. She had alcohol. She got less than 6 hours of sleep. She loves indoor SSC. She does no weight training or restorative exercise or HIIT workouts. Yikes.

The good news is that all of that can be remedied! Now that you know what jacks your cortisol levels up, see what you can do to manage that. Time to go outside? Try a weight training class? Take yoga or hop on the roll? These are all good ideas in the quest to keep that belly under control, your energy steady, and your cells happy! 🙂

Do you see yourself in Bernadette? Let us know in the comments below!

In memory of Laura Bartron

P.S. This blog is dedicated to the memory of our Regional Club Sport Nutritionist Laura Bartron, whom we lost suddenly in mid-September 2015 to breast cancer. She was a regular reader of this blog, and a trusted brilliant colleague in the wild world of fitness and nutrition. She will be dearly missed by all, and I hope she knows how many lives she influenced for the better.

In January of 2015, she came to Club Sport Oregon and and gave a talk she titled “The Female Fat Loss Plan”. At the end of the lecture, I was instantly sad I hadn’t videoed the information as she jam packed it full of fantastic information. I begged her in subsequent emails to get a video done, and she was all set to record her presentation when she came up for a Symposium at the end of this last September.

The information in this blog is taken from notes from that lecture, as well as a presentation by our current Club Sport Nutritionist Jami Tautfest-Bernabe in her place at the Symposium of September 2015. I am grateful to both of these ladies.

I am also extremely grateful for my dear nutritionist friend and coach Margaret Floyd Barry, who eternally adds more to this ongoing conversation of cortisol, insulin, glucose, hormones, and fat loss in her blog and website eatnakednow.com!

Follow me with my five fabulous fast warm up exercises with a mini band.

xUgh. Headaches. 🙁

Sometimes they are blinding. Literally.

If you get really bad headaches, or your headaches fall in the migraine category, this blog is for you. Read this before the next one strikes!
I have pulled three people out of migraines, and each time I did it the exact same way. Now, we broke the headache, but in all three cases the person suffering went to bed anyway to sleep off the exhaustion of managing the pain. All three were surprised to have the headache disappear, as they all had guessed this was going to be a doozy.

Like 24 hours out- of- commission doozy.

I realize there are different types of migraine sources. Maybe I just got lucky and none of the ladies I encountered happened to have anything amiss minus some big time muscle compensatory mechanisms. Even if your migraine is hormonal, give these tips a whirl!

Things you need to fight your battle with

Here are the things you’ll need to effectively battle that headache with:

• an ottoman or couch or chair or low bed, trunk, or window seat
• a floor
• something that weighs 2-ish pounds to put on your stomach to help you remember to breathe
• an eye pillow or hand towel to cover eyes
• yoga block or firm pillow or a roll of paper towels
• belt, yoga strap, scarf, shoelace, mini stretchy band

You’ve got your fancy (ha!) tools!

What’s happening?

Let’s talk about what is going on. You get a headache. Then you start to see stars or have blind spots or just have general light sensitivity.

Here’s why: the optic nerve in the eye is the biggest user of oxygen in the body. Something has kinked the supply of oxygen to the eyeballs, and I suspect good ole trap 1/2 (the muscle that connects into the bottom of your cabeza) is up to no good. Maybe on one side, maybe on both? It varies. Either way, it must be neutralized!

Remember the anatomy? Here that little turkey is again:

We are going to go the most conservative route to get your body to relax again. You are going to lie on the floor in one of my most favorite positions:

Static Back, or as my favorite LMT Kim Dewey of of heartsongforhealth.com massage calls it: 90/90/90

Step one

Place the eye pillow over the eyes, so we can quit taxing that optic nerve. Notice the position of the hands. Here with the eye pillow on is my sweet client Dianne. She has her palms facing down. Look what that does to her shoulder position. See how they round forward, even lying on the floor? In the photo above, and in subsequent photos, we made sure her palms were facing up to soak in all the energy the universe has to offer as well as help open up those shoulders out of “protect mode”– all curled forward.

Step two

Place something firm –in this case a yoga block– in between knees. Squeeze for a minute and 1/2 or my favorite 90 seconds. Feel the insides of the thighs, and only the insides of the thighs, working equally on both sides.

Step three

Place band (or scarf, shoelace, etc) around and above knees so that you have something to press out against. Hopefully you have been working on finding your glutes from other blogs you’ve read, 🙂 and when you press out against the strap you feel the outsides of the hips and glutes equally.

If this is a new thing for you, try for 90 seconds and then rest. You will be given the opportunity to try, try, try again! Once you get the band on, don’t slip it all the way off. Just drop it down a little, as we are going to alternate between these frequently.

Step four

BREATHE. Place a little weight or something slightly heavy on your stomach, and as you inhale, the weight rises. As you exhale, the weight drops. Work on that good core breathing, and inhaling and exhaling through the nose into what yoga calls the “front belly”, the “side belly”, and the “back belly”. Of the three exercises, this is easily the most important to get you out of light sensitivity mode.

You need OXYGEN! LOTS OF OXYGEN! Share on X

I noticed with all three migraine sufferers that none of them were breathing much. It was very shallow. That just makes matters worse. Work on this. It is a deal maker and/or breaker!

Step five

REPEAT THIS SEQUENCE SEVEN TIMES, or more as necessary. If you fall asleep, all the better! I used to take naps in this position all the time. 🙂

Once upon a time, when I worked in San Diego, we had a person brought in on a stretcher in a wickedly horrible back spasm. This is what we did with her. Simply stabilized the insides of the hips, then the outsides of the hips, and then had her breathe. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat……..

She walked out. 🙂

Brilliant!

Let me know in the comments below how this simple sequence works for you….