Fitness

Why you need to exercise your brain

Published

2 years ago

May 13, 2022

First, we wish to thank veteran Roy Nivens and the Etowah Fireplace Division for getting our flags again up after the ropes broke. We’re so proud that we’re in a position to present respect to our nation and its veterans by displaying our American and POW flags.

Just lately, Stephanie Shanahan, Etowah Neighborhood Middle Supervisor, and Assistant Supervisor Jennifer Chamlee visited the senior heart. They informed our seniors all about their facility and the packages they provide. The aim of the Neighborhood Middle is to encourage good well being and to carry households nearer via health, sports activities, enjoyable, and shared pursuits.

One program on the Etowah Neighborhood Middle is Silver Sneakers. It’s a well being and health program that gives train courses for older adults. The price of this system is roofed by most Medicare Benefit plans. As soon as you’re within the silver sneakers program, you’ll be able to make the most of different issues the middle affords. Silver Sneakers meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-10 a.m. Even when your Medicare plan doesn’t cowl Silver Sneakers, you’re invited to take part. Name for extra info.

The Etowah Neighborhood Middle additionally affords Zumba courses Mondays and Thursdays from 6:30-7:30 and on Saturdays from 10-11. In addition they have a weight and cardio room, recreation room, dance and aerobics room, assembly and social gathering rooms, and a gymnasium. They’ve a pool desk, ping-pong desk and pickleball. They provide particular person charges in addition to household charges. They’ve month-to-month, quarterly, and yearly plans obtainable. You’ll be able to even pay by the day. For extra details about the neighborhood heart and what packages they provide, name 423-263-6575.

We have now a number of completely different train packages every year on the heart. We host the arthritis train program carried out by the UT Extension Company. We simply accomplished an train program with Tonya Phenix, health teacher and proprietor of the Sweetwater Health Middle. We have now our personal train courses often. We attempt to differ the varieties of workouts. We do chair workouts, band workouts, yoga, power coaching, and lots of others. When you concentrate on exercising, you don’t actually assume you’re doing one thing good on your mind, however you’re. Many people expertise mind fog as we age. Train adjustments the mind in ways in which defend reminiscence and pondering abilities.

When your coronary heart charge will increase, extra oxygen is pumped to your mind. This aids within the launch of a hormone which gives a superb atmosphere for the expansion of latest mind cells. New mind cells are one thing all of us might use.

Bodily train isn’t the one kind of train good on your mind. There are a lot of different actions that may stimulate the mind. Under are some the explanation why it’s so essential to train your mind in addition to another actions that may assist maintain your thoughts sharp.

Have you ever ever heard somebody say, “use it or lose it?” When somebody says that, they often are speaking about your muscle tissues. However the saying might additionally discuss with your mind.

Most of us don’t consider our mind as an organ that wants care and a focus, like we do our coronary heart, lungs, and pores and skin. We might imagine our mind is past our management or affect. In truth, we most likely don’t give it some thought in any respect till one thing goes mistaken, like an harm or illness reminiscent of dementia. However in actuality, your mind wants simply as a lot, if no more, train and a focus than the remainder of your physique to maintain it sharp, wholesome, and performing at its perfect. Mind workouts may even delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s. Once you maintain your thoughts energetic, your pondering abilities are much less prone to decline. Your mind is probably the most very important organ in your physique, controlling each bodily operate.

Many individuals don’t perceive why your mind wants train. And even fewer perceive methods to do it. If you’re over the age of 18, a few of your cognitive abilities have already headed south, in response to a research from the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how. The next are a number of the cognitive talents that change as you age:

• Processing Velocity. That is how briskly you soak up new info and reply to it. It’s principally pondering in your ft. This capacity peaks in your late teenagers.

• Working Reminiscence. That is your capacity to carry a number of items of knowledge in your mind. That is additionally known as short-term reminiscence. This peaks in your late 20s and 30s.

• Social Cognition. That is your capacity to understand and interpret social info, like physique language or facial expressions and reply accordingly. This peaks in your 40s.

• Vocabulary. Studying the that means of latest phrases peaks within the 60s. Broader vocabulary helps you talk extra successfully and higher perceive the world round you.

Now that you already know what occurs to your mind as you age, we’ll study what to do about it. There are quite a few mind workouts that may assist. The next will provide you with some strategies of what you are able to do to stimulate your mind:

• Work your reminiscence. The only approach to bear in mind issues is by repetition. Once you meet somebody new, repeat their title again to them. Once you hear a music you want, attempt to memorize the lyrics. Memorize Bible verses, your grocery listing, or a poem.

• Be taught one thing new. Be taught to play an instrument, sport, language or sport.

• Work your physique. Bodily train is nice on your mind.

• Eat the correct meals. Meals like fish, vegatables and fruits assist your mind carry out optimally. Even darkish chocolate offers your mind a lift.

• Do math in your head. Determine basic math issues in your head.

• Take a cooking class or cook dinner at house. Cooking makes use of quite a lot of senses: Scent, contact, sight and style. These all can enhance sure areas in your mind.

• Draw a map from reminiscence. Once you go to a sure place, while you go house, strive to attract a map of the place you had been at. Repeat this each time you go to a brand new location.

• Problem your style buds. When consuming, attempt to determine particular person components in your meal. Attempt to select sure herbs and spices. Eat new meals.

• Take up a passion that includes hand/eye coordination. Do an exercise that includes tremendous motor abilities reminiscent of knitting, drawing, portray, working puzzles and taking part in bingo.

• Get sufficient sleep. Sleep is vital to rejuvenate your mind.

• Take a special route in your approach to work or house. This forces your mind to concentrate to particulars quite than what it has been programmed to do.

• Take a superb take a look at issues. One of the dominate jobs of your mind is your visible sense. With the ability to visually analyze your atmosphere offers you cognitive clues about methods to behave in it. Growing this a part of your mind could be achieved by choosing out three gadgets and their location. Once you go away the setting, shut your eyes and see in case you can precisely bear in mind every merchandise and its location. When you do that while you park someplace, you’ll bear in mind the place you park. We have now all come out of a retailer and forgot the place we parked. Doing this train will assist with that. You may also discover issues in your environment after which write all of it down from recall.

• Do easy duties together with your non-dominant hand. Attempt consuming, brushing your enamel and writing with the opposite hand.

• Begin the morning off together with your newspaper. You can find phrase puzzles reminiscent of crosswords and Sudoku. The Each day Submit-Athenian within the weekend paper has an awesome number of puzzles.

• When you all the time sit in a sure chair at your desk, change seats. Even change the place the place you often attain for the salt and pepper.

• Have extra social interplay. Pay an actual individual on your gasoline. Purchase a drink from an individual quite than a machine.

• Learn. Nearly something you learn helps your mind. For a fair higher impact, change up the way in which your learn. Learn out loud for a change. Learn to another person.

• Select an object and consider 10 alternative ways to make use of it. As an example, a fly swatter may very well be used as a tennis racket, golf membership, fan, baton, drumstick, violin, shovel, microphone, baseball bat or a canoe paddle.

Holding off the getting older means of your mind is type of like shopping for a health club membership and by no means utilizing it. To have a pointy functioning mind means incorporating these actions into your on a regular basis routine. Doing mind workouts will provide you with a superb head begin to good mind well being.

Right here on the heart, you can see some ways to stimulate your mind. Taking part in bingo, working puzzles, taking part in video games, socializing, portray, and doing arts and crafts are only a few mind actions we do right here. You might be greater than welcome to return see what we do. You simply may even make a brand new pal.

Under are some actions we’ll provide within the subsequent few days:

• Could 13: 9 a.m. — Video games; 10 a.m. — Mind Video games; 11 a.m. — Crafts

• Could 16: 9 a.m. — Video games 10 a.m. — Bingo with Hospice of Chattanooga; 11 a.m. — Icebreakers

• Could 17: 9 a.m. — Video games; 10 a.m. — Bingo with Cameron Medical Provide

• Could 18: 9 a.m. — Video games; 10 a.m. — Bingo; 11 a.m. — Group Singing

• Could 20: 9 a.m. — Video games; 10 a.m. — Bean Public sale with Hospice of Chattanooga; 11 a.m. — Etowah Senior Fowl Watchers

Sue Walker is the chief director of the Etowah Space Senior Residents Middle. She could also be reached by calling 423-781-7632.

Related Topics:anatomy brain Exercise food medicine program sport

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Fitness

Daniela Hantuchová in Two-Piece Workout Gear Does a Deadlift

Published

6 hours ago

July 27, 2024

Press Room

Daniela Hantuchová in Two-Piece Workout Gear Does a Deadlift

Daniela Hantuchová is a commentator and retired tennis player. While she might no longer be playing professionally, she’s still training hard. In May, Hantuchová hit the gym, and shared a video of herself there on Instagram. In it, she is seen doing deadlifts, lunge squats with a barbell, and leg lifts while on an exercise ball. How does she stay so fit? Read on to see TK ways Daniela Hantuchová stays in shape and the photos that prove they work.

As you can see from her Instagram video, Hantuchová likes to lift weights to stay in shape. ACE Fitness states that lifting weights is a great workout. “Using maximal loads for compound (multi-joint) movements like the deadlift, squat-to-shoulder press, bent-over row or chest press can improve intermuscular coordination, which is the ability of many muscles to work together to generate and control high levels of force through multiple joints.”

Hantuchová is also seen doing lunge squats with a barbell in her Instagram video. ACE Fitness states that lunge exercises have a lot of benefits. “The lunge is one of the most effective exercises for targeting the lower body. It activates the quads, glutes and hamstrings, and helps improve lower-body strength, balance and stability. And if that isn’t enough to get you lunging, lunging activates the core muscles as well.”

Hantuchová likes to do Pilates to keep herself in shape. She shared this video on Instagram of herself doing exercises on a reformer. Hantuchová captioned the post, “As in life, focus on the balance in all you do.” The Cleveland Clinic states, “The benefits of Pilates are both therapeutic and preventive. The practice may help you recover from an existing injury or manage a chronic musculoskeletal issue. It may also help you establish a healthy baseline, so that when those injuries or issues arise, you’re able to bounce back faster.”

Hantuchová likes to set goals for herself each year. She talked about this in the caption of this Instagram photo. “Setting up goals for next year starts with understanding that it is a continuous work through out the entire year🫶♻️. Think long term, taking small steps every day.”

Tennis is naturally one of the main ways Hantuchová keeps herself in shape. She shared this video of herself on the court on Instagram. Hantuchová talked about her love of tennis in the caption. “Once a passion, forever a passion.🎾 For me playing tennis is like playing piano,it is the art and the beauty of every shot that makes our sport so special and what I was attracted to every since being a little girl🥰. And it is still the same feeling today🫶. What is your passion?”

Fitness

No, not sit-ups — here’s the one abs exercise you should do to strengthen your core without weights

Published

13 hours ago

July 27, 2024

Press Room

No, not sit-ups — here’s the one abs exercise you should do to strengthen your core without weights

Maybe you’re just bored of sit-ups or they’re off the table from back pain, tight hips, or limited mobility. Great news — you don’t them to build a stronger core. Here’s one abs exercise you can do without sit-ups or weights.

In recent years, the tides have turned as instructors turn their backs on sit-ups in favor of the best abs exercises that are low impact for your back. That doesn’t mean a sit-up doesn’t have value — just that you don’t need the ab exercise to strengthen your core.

Below, I cover how to do hanging oblique raises — one of my go-to exercises whenever I have a pull-up bar in my sights. Here’s how to do them, the benefits and why you might consider trying them as an alternative to sit-ups.

Are sit-ups good or bad for you?

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

For a while, sit-ups were seen as the gold standard for building core strength and stability and honing those six-pack muscles. In recent years, even institutions like Harvard Health Publishing have recommended skipping them, suggesting that might not be the case.

It’s worth saying that I still program them here and there, and for many people, they’re safe. However, growing numbers of fitness professionals have discarded sit-ups because they’re not the most effective ab-strengthening exercise and could cause injury if you have low back pain, tight or weak hips, or struggle to engage your core properly. If you can perform core exercises upright, why shouldn’t you?

One of the main issues I see is the hip flexors taking over the exercise, which adds load and strain to them while taking away work potential from the core muscles, namely the primary mover — the rectus abdominis or “six-pack” muscles. In this instance, I recommend butterfly sit-ups, which involve bringing the soles of the feet together and opening the knees to help isolate the abdominal muscles.

Learning proper core engagement can help you feel the sit-up where you should, but if your back still takes the brunt of repeated lumbar spinal flexion, or your neck feels uncomfortable, there’s a whole library of better core exercises at your disposal.

Here’s one I love…

How to do hanging oblique leg raises

DB Wtd Hanging Oblique Tucks – YouTube
DB Wtd Hanging Oblique Tucks - YouTube

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Hanging oblique raises, or tucks, involve hanging from a bar and drawing your toes or knees toward your armpits; this helps engage the obliques that run down your waist and hips and builds upper body and grip strength. You just need a pull-up bar or something sturdy to hang from, which has a lower impact on your back than pulling your torso up from the floor.

Unlike hanging leg raises, the gentle twist helps engage even more core muscle, but if you know your hips tend to steal the spotlight, keep your knees tucked throughout and focus on driving your knees toward your armpits. To progress the exercise, hold a weight between your thighs or feet.

Grip the bar shoulder-width apart using an overhand grip,
Hang from the bar and brace your stomach
Press your legs together, then either keep them extended or bend your knees
Draw your toes or knees toward your right armpit or right shoulder and pause
Lower back down, then repeat on your left side
Avoid swinging your torso and focus on slow, controlled movement.

Verdict

While performing any core exercise, the key is to really feel it. Avoid swinging your body weight or rushing your reps and control each movement phase, squeezing the muscles as you move. It’s like juicing a lemon — you want to get as much out of it as possible.

Not only does this improve the mind-muscle connection, but it also teaches your body to recruit muscles properly during exercise, building stability and strength. Throwing your weight around reduces the intensity of an exercise, so take the time to feel how an exercise feels to you.

Think of your core as a powerhouse center, starting from your ribcage, extending down your torso to your glutes and hips and wrapping around your back like a corset. When these muscles are strong, they can stabilize the spine, withstand impact and offer protection from injury.

Although isolation exercises help you drill down on a specific muscle group, the best workouts are functional and use compound exercises, targeting more muscles, moving in more directions and teaching the body to recruit more muscles using natural movement patterns. Remember to drive all movement through your powerhouse through every phase of an exercise to build better balance, coordination and stability.

Fitness

Exercise Really Can Make You Smarter, Especially Certain Forms, Study Finds

Published

20 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Press Room

Exercise Really Can Make You Smarter, Especially Certain Forms, Study Finds

Aerobic exercise and resistance training help improve cognitive and executive functioning, with older populations seeing the biggest boost, according to a new meta-analysis

In the longevity game, health and wellness have evolved into more than just obtaining an ideal BMI; they’ve become tools to improve and extend mental acuity — and aerobic exercise and resistance training could be the keys to positive cognitive and executive functioning.

Aging is inevitable for all, but one systematic review and meta-analysis — described by its authors as a comprehensive “one-stop shop” — has offered new insights into exercise’s impact on cognitive function and provides a new perspective for longevity-seekers.

Exercise is commonly recommended to boost cognitive function, but researchers say few meta-analyses have truly evaluated the cognitive advantages associated with variables such as exercise frequency, intensity, duration, type, volume and progression (FITT-VP) in healthy populations.

In their review, published in Ageing Research Reviews, researchers used PubMed and Web of Science to gather 54 randomized controlled trials with 6,277 participants (aged 6 to 60) to examine each FITT-VP variable’s effects on healthy individuals’ cognitive function, including executive function, memory, attention and information processing.

The included 54 studies met the following criteria:

The study was a randomized controlled trial with healthy participants to explore the effects of chronic exercise on cognitive function

The interventions included any type of exercise training with supervision

Control group participants received no intervention, usual care, health education, sham exercise training, or were on a waitlist for the study

Studies had to report at least one cognitive outcome, which included global cognition, executive function, memory, attention or information processing

The key takeaway? Aerobic exercise performed with moderate duration, frequency, intensity and overall length was associated with the greatest improvement in global cognition, the authors found.

When it comes to improving executive functioning, researchers suggest that resistance training is better than aerobic exercise, although both modalities offer strong benefits.

Mind-body exercise (in this case, yoga and tai chi) with moderate duration, frequency and overall length but high intensity also showed benefits to memory, although the authors caution that the results assessing attention and information processing should be interpreted cautiously due to the low number of included studies.