Best Fitness Blog

During this month of valentine hearts and sweets, remember it is also Heart Awareness month. There is no better time to care for your heart than now, and this month gives you the perfect excuse to start.

Did you know that diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure, all risk factors for heart disease, can be completely controlled by exercise? By changing your lifestyle through diet and exercise you give yourself the opportunity for a healthy and heart fit life as you age.

A sedentary lifestyle is the main cause for heart disease and cardiac arrest. Fortunately, it is completely under your control. Regular exercise, especially aerobic exercise, has many benefits including strengthening your heart and cardiovascular system, strengthening your bones and lowering your blood pressure.

Exercise is the key to a healthy and happy life. But don’t be discouraged if you have never exercised regularly before. Small steps through walking, cycling, and fun group exercise classes are how you begin. But don’t put it off any longer, start now.

Is it time for you to start taking care of your heart? Don’t know where to start? Contact Best Fitness in your area to see how we can help.

By... Karli Taylor

In recent years, many studies have been published showing the benefits of weight training for women. Still, the number of women who take this recommendation to heart is still quite low. Most women who exercise are spending most of their gym time on cardiovascular exercise because they are afraid weight training will make the look bulky or they feel that walking on the treadmill is sufficient. Whatever your reasons for avoiding the weights, if you are a woman, here are some less obvious reasons reasons why you need to take strength training seriously.

In addition to getting stronger and leaner, adding weight training to your routine will help to decrease your risk of osteoporosis. Weight training can increase spinal bone density by up to 13 percent in just six months. This, coupled with an adequate amount of dietary calcium, can be a women's best defense against osteoporosis.

Did you know that heart disease is one of the leading causes of death among women in the U.S?: Weight training can improve cardiovascular health in several ways, including lowering LDL ("bad") cholesterol, increasing HDL ("good") cholesterol and lowering blood pressure. When cardiovascular exercise is added, these benefits are maximized, and your risk of heart disease is lowered!

If those reasons still aren’t enough to convince you to pump some iron, weight training will reduce your risk of diabetes. Weight training has been shown to improve the way the body processes sugar, which may reduce the risk of diabetes. Adult-onset diabetes is a growing problem for both women and men. Research indicates that weight training can increase glucose utilization in the body by 23 percent in four months.

Don’t you think that the benefits are worth the work?

Visit one of our Best Fitness Clubs to learn even more about this topic. We have locations in Albany,NY, Tonawanda, NY, Schenectady, NY, Erie, PA, Nashua, NH, Chelmsford, MA, and Drum Hill, MA.

...By Karli Taylor

Obesity has been rapidly increasing in prevalence over the past two decades—in children as well as in adults. Although obesity is a recognized risk factor for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and some forms of cancer, new evidence suggests that obesity may also contribute to or even cause asthma.

Obese patients with severe asthma account for 75% of emergency department visits for asthma. A new study shows that obese adults with asthma are more likely than normal weight asthma suffers to have severe and persistent symptoms, and when obese asthma patients lose weight, there is a notable decrease in asthma symptoms and severity.

Obesity affects the anatomy of both the lungs and airways. Excess mass in the abdomen and chest put pressure on the lungs and the airways restricting the flow of air.

The impact can actually be life altering for children because that extra mass can affect lung growth, resulting in smaller lungs and reduced pulmonary function.

Another possible correlation is that obese individuals breathe at higher frequencies—but with smaller breaths—compared with non-obese individuals. As a result, the muscles around the airway are overworked and over stressed.

With every new study that emerges about the impacts of obesity, it becomes more clear that we have to take a firm stand against obesity.

... By Karli Taylor

Obesity not only puts people at risk for a number of chronic conditions but may also increase the likelihood of dying in a car crash. In general, car crashes are the most common cause of injury-related death for those ages 3 to 33. New studies show how body weight plays into this statistic.

Results of a recent study show that moderately obese individuals, those with a body mass index between 35 and 39, have a 21-percent higher risk of dying during a severe car crash compared with normal-weight individuals. Morbidly obese individuals, those with a BMI of 40 and above, have a 56-percent higher risk.

The results suggest that having a larger stomach puts an individual too close to the steering wheel, and therefore can boost the risk of mortality because the body has less time to slow down before hitting the steering column after impact.

To add to the danger for obese individuals, they are also more likely to have serious illnesses, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and are more likely to have complications during surgery, which may contribute to their higher risk of death after a crash.

Some are now considering whether car manufacturers should consider redesigning their vehicles co protect the one-third of obese Americans from injury during car crashes. It may be as simple as allowing the driver’s seat to push further back than current vehicles allow. Also, manufacturers should use obese crash-test dummies, in addition to the normal-weight ones, when testing cars for safety. What do you think about that?

...By Karli Taylor

Just in case you don’t have enough motivation to hit the gym today, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has released an official statement regarding yet another benefit of exercising regularly. According to recent studies, people who engage in regular physical activity can reduce their risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, and people who already suffer from the disease may reduce symptoms and complications and increase quality of life.

According to the statement, a combination of regular exercise and weight loss can lower the risk for type 2 diabetes by 58 percent in high-risk populations. For those already diagnosed with the disease, exercise can improve blood glucose, lipid profiles, and blood pressure while reducing cardiovascular complications and lowering the rate of mortality.

What is meant by “regular exercise”? According to the ACSM, anyone participating in 30 minutes or more of continuous exercise on most days of the week would satisfy the requirements of being a “regular exerciser”.

Though it is true that shorter bouts of exercise throughout the day do add up to help with both weight loss and cardiovascular health, the benefits of 2 or 3 ten minute exercise sessions have not been proven to be as great as those that are associated with 30 minutes of continuous work.