Gravity Fx Fitness

According to one researcher, “excessive sitting is a lethal activity.”

Dr. James Levine at the Mayo Clinic has a strong interest in studying how our bodies burn calories through movement and activity.  He designed special underwear with sensors that measure each and every movement throughout the day, or lack thereof.

In one motion tracking study, obese subjects averaged only 1500 movements daily and spent almost 600 minutes sitting.  In contrast, Dr. Levine has studied Jamaican farm workers who average 5000 daily movements and only sit for 300 minutes daily.

In a recent New York Times article, Dr. Levine had a journalist wear these unique underwear to get a better idea what he was talking about.  Levine had always been curious how some people seemed to avoid gaining weight even though they ate the same amount of food as others.

He found that some people unconsciously move around more than others, even if they didn’t consider this to be exercise.  He came up with the term NEAT to describe this – Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.  Apparently, thousands of micro-movements spread throughout your day REALLY matter when it comes to keeping your weight under control.

There are many great points made in this article which might impact your health.  One thing they didn’t discuss much is the effect that excessive sitting can have on your posture and the ill effects that poor posture can have over the period of several years.

I personally believe that its almost impossible not to suffer postural problems when spending so much time seated, even if they may take decades to have an effect on someone….making it more and more difficult to move in some cases, compounding the original problem.

I’ll give you two examples from my life – my 71 year old father and 68 year old mother.  Neither has spent much time exercising in their adult lives but my mother is definitely the healthier of the two.  She also does a lot more moving around in her daily activities and I think this is a big reason for the difference between the two.

If you are someone who has an occupation that has you sitting for most of the day I think adding in those little movements, these micro-movements is definitely in order to help you burn more calories and possibly stay healthier.

It will definitely help to stand up and take a short posture break every so often, maybe every 30 minutes or so, even if it’s just walking in place or stretching out for 10 seconds at a time, walking around a little more, if possible.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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A just-published study suggests the practice of meditation may bring cardiovascular and mental-health benefits.

The research, followed close to 300 students, half of whom practiced transcendental meditation for 20 minutes once or twice daily over three months. A subgroup of subjects in the meditation group who were at increased risk for hypertension significantly lowered their blood pressure and psychological distress, and also bolstered their coping ability.

The average reduction in blood pressure in this group — a 6.3-mm Hg decrease in the top (systolic) number of a blood pressure reading and a 4-mm Hg decrease in the lower (diastolic) number — was associated with a 52 percent reduction in the risk of developing hypertension in the future. Meditators who were not at increased risk for hypertension saw a reduction in psychological distress, depression, and anxiety as well as increased coping ability.

As the new year begins and you resolve to make healthier lifestyle choices, I strongly encourage you to add a few minutes of meditation to your daily routine.

Just 20 minutes a day can begin to make a big difference in how you feel mentally, physically and emotionally.

When your mind is calm and your emotions are within your control, you’re in a much better position to tackle all your normal responsibilities plus the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Feelings of stress and overwhelm that keep you stuck in unhealthy behaviors can be greatly relieved by a regular practice of meditation. As the clouds in your head clear and your anxiety is minimized, you’ll be amazed at how energized and capable you feel.

Set the Stage for a New Beginning

All the changes you make in your life begin in your head.

Meditation has the power to actually alter the way your mind works by strengthening the areas of your brain that regulate attention and memory.

When you’re better able to focus and concentrate, you can perform routine tasks quickly and efficiently, leaving yourself with the time and energy you need to take on new goals and challenges.

Rather than doing the same things the same way, with the same mindset and the same disappointing results, meditation allows you to set the stage for the changes you want to make in your life.

Managing Your Stress = Managing Your Life

Every human illness is stress-related on some level.

Since meditation works so well to relieve stress, it can also prevent and help heal illness. Not only can meditation reduce blood pressure and hypertension risks, it has also been shown to help relieve:

• Chronic pain, including headaches
• Respiratory problems such as emphysema and asthma
• Sleep disturbances and fatigue
• Gastrointestinal distress and irritable bowel syndrome
• Skin disorders
• Mild depression and premenstrual syndrome
• RA (rheumatoid arthritis) symptoms

Conditions like these can rob you of your ability to live a full, satisfying life. When you’re weighed down with stress and the physical complaints that go with it, just getting through each day becomes a chore. Your stress is in control – you aren’t.

What could be better than a cure for feelings of stress and stress-related illness that is all natural and free except for a small investment of your time?

That’s what meditation offers you. It’s a foundation upon which to build. That’s why I recommend it as a place to start before you attempt to make other positive changes in your life.

Three-Legged Stool

Imagine meditation and other stress management tools as the third leg of a three-legged stool of good health.

One leg of the stool is proper nutrition. Another is exercise.

Without all three legs, the stool can’t stand up. That’s how important meditation can be to your overall health. Your ability to handle life’s stressors is just as important for your survival as the food you eat and the condition of your body.

Getting Started

To test your meditation wings, give this a try. Sit quietly, perhaps put on some soothing music, and close your eyes.

Breathe rhythmically and focus — on your breathing, a flower, an image, a candle, a mantra or even just being in the moment. If you find that your mind starts to wander, direct it back to your focus point and continue from there.

Ideally, set aside 15-20 minutes a day to practice meditation. You can also try it in shorter segments, but ultimately try to work your way up to 20 minutes.

I’m also a major fan of brainwave entrainment technology. We offer the Insight CD System here on our site. The Insight CD is set up so you can do a 20-minute quick session or longer 40- or 60-minute sessions.

By listening to the CD you can literally train your brain to function at a high level of synchronization, opening up the way for a flood of positive effects. When the left and right sides of your brain begin to work in concert with each other, electrical activity and energy patterns become more widespread throughout the brain instead of remaining confined to certain areas.

Research has indicated this type of “whole brain synchronization” is present at times of intense creativity, clarity and inspiration.

Whether you use the Insight audio CD or meditate on your own in a quiet, undisturbed place, make sure you make the practice a priority of your daily life. It’s a simple step that can have a lasting and profound influence on your physical health and mental well-being.

Use this quiet time to focus on whatever you want to.  You can use it to pray if you wish.

I like to do joint mobility movements and really focus on what my body is feeling as I go through the various patterns – kind of like meditation in motion.  Works well for us ADD types.  Besides relieving stress it increases the quality of your movements, which is always a good thing.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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What if you could increase your health and reduce your chances of getting the flu at the same time? Would you be interested?

With all the talk about the swine flu and healthcare reform, breaking a sweat can help strengthen your immune system and lower your risk of serious illness.

The effects of being overweight include greatly increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer, yet we hear little talk in Washington of wellness and prevention.

Studies have shown that for every corporate dollar spent on wellness there is a return of two to three dollars, or more.  How much money would we save with a renewed focus on prevention, instead of trying to fix people after they have broken down?

Sweating gets rid of toxins in your skin and the increased rate of breathing with exercise gets rid of even more toxins in your body.  Unfortunately, many people would rather take a pill than put in the work.

This weekend I was at a presentation on flu prevention.  The focus was on what you can do to avoid it without getting a vaccine shot, including chiropractic care and supplements like Vitamin D.  I was in the back to talk to people about coming into my studio for a free week and a vendor with an alkaline water product was also there.

More people seemed interested in taking the water to try and improve their health than in the exercise – maybe because one is passive, while the exercise actually requires some physical effort.

I think many of us have gotten “soft” because of all the modern conveniences we have available.  For thousands of years we have had to work hard to provide food and shelter.

Now, it seems people just want to take a pill for their health, but there is no pill that takes the place of exercise.  Our bodies are designed for movement and function at a higher level when we get adequate movement.

There is no replacement for sweating when it comes to your health and you don’t have to spend hours exercising to see results – you just have to find the right program.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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An often over-looked fitness quality is how well you move.  I definitely believe in strength training, whether its for sports performance, fat loss, or general fitness…..

but what about the quality of your movement?  If you are just training on weight machines or doing bodybuilding style training, your movement quality may be lacking.  Many people definitely need more work doing resistance training.

They also need to be training on their feet in order to apply this strength to their everyday activities.  I was at a fitness seminar a while back and one of the presenters was Dave Schmitz.  If you’re not familiar with Dave, he is a very dynamic presenter.

Which is fitting, since the resistance band training he does is extremely dynamic.  He did some demos with a few trainers who were pretty muscular, but looked like they could use some additional work on their total body coordination.

Training with flex bands is one way to accomplish this.  They are a great tool for agility and flexibility training.  They can definitely help your muscles react quicker.  You want strong muscles but you also want them to contract quickly and resistance bands can help.

If some of these fitness professionals need work in this area, then “averaqe” people also need some help.  As I said, exercising while sitting or lying down may not make you very coordinated when you are standing.

If like me, you are just a recreational athlete or weekend warrior, quickness and agility training will increase your performance – or, if you just want to play with your kids/grandkids and avoid injury, this can also be achieved.

I also like to do joint mobility training to increase my movement quality and “de-stress”.  Work on your strength, mobility/flexibility and coordination when you are young and you will greatly increase your chances of never feeling old.

Get moving!

Brian

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