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Your Health

Fitness is about YOU and everything you do! It's never too late to start focusing on your health. We want to help you establish a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and nutrition.

You should set realistic goals and ENJOY your fitness lifestyle! That's where we come in. Our training staff is equipped to help you set those goals and make your fitness 'mission' a fun one! Let's get started...

Protein Shakes: When and Why You Should Have One
For most of us, nutrition remains the biggest obstacle to accomplishing our health and fitness goals. Many of you have heard me say that approximately 70% of your success or failure is at the dinner table. This is so very true!

I also believe that with the exception of a high-quality multi-vitamin, most other supplements are optional. As we increase our training level, or strive toward a specific goal, supplements can play a role in the process. For most of us, we can accomplish our nutrient requirements through our eating lifestyle. You can obtain most of the vitamins and other nutrients your body needs by eating several well-balanced meals each day.

However, there is one critical time that all of us can benefit from consuming a protein shake. Research has shown that within a 20 to 30 minute timeframe immediately after a workout, your body is primed to replenish the nutrients you have depleted during your workout. This short time window is critical; you have just burned your body’s store of certain nutrients, carbohydrates and amino acids. All of these play a critical role in restoring and healing the body after strenuous exercise.

Even if you were to consume a well-balanced meal within that time window, by the time the food is digested you will have missed that optimal window. The easy solution to this problem? A protein shake! We use high quality whey proteins at the juice bar. The protein is not pre-mixed; we make each shake to order. They taste great, provide a superb balance of amino acids, protein and carbohydrates.

After your next workout, regardless if it is a group ex class, a treadmill workout, circuit training routine or a full-blown muscle building workout, hit the juice bar for a protein shake to give your body the blast of carbs, protein and amino’s that it needs.

Understanding "Proprietary Blends"
In the sports nutrition marketplace, "proprietary blends" are like opinions: Everybody's got at least one. This can be confusing if you're trying to compare one supplement to another.

Here's a fictitious example. Chad wants a supplement containing at least 2-3 g (2000-3000 mg) of arginine, an amino acid, which he hopes will boost his nitric oxide (NO) and growth hormone (GH) levels. While browsing through a health food store he picks up a bottle of a product that catches his eye. Chad rotates the bottle in his hand to reveal the Supplement Facts panel, where three proprietary blends are listed. One of them, called "NO-GH Bomb", contains seven amino acids, among which is arginine. Chad is confused. While the total weight of each blend is indicated on the label, the weights of individual ingredients within a given blend are not. Using this information how can Chad determine how much arginine the supplement contains?

The answer is that he can't. Only the manufacturer knows exactly how much of each ingredient is in the product's proprietary blends; hence the term "proprietary". And the FDA allows this.

To help us further understand the FDA's labeling rules concerning proprietary blends, I contacted Dr. Robert Moore (Ph.D.), Supervisor of the Regulations Implementation Team in the Division of Dietary Supplement Programs at the FDA. Dr. Moore confirmed the following:

(1) The net weight of each proprietary blend must be indicated on the Supplement Facts panel. "Net weight" equals the combined weight of all of the ingredients in the blend minus the weight of the container used to measure the ingredients.

(2) Individual ingredients within a blend must be listed in descending order of weight (i.e. from largest to smallest quantity) on the Supplement Facts panel.

(3) The weights of individual ingredients within a blend do not have to be indicated.

(4) The blends do not have to be listed in any particular order.

(5) Manufacturers are free to use the term "proprietary" or another "appropriately descriptive term or fanciful name" to describe a blend (hence "NO-GH Bomb").

What does all of this mean for Chad? The Supplement Facts panel of the product he's holding in his hand indicates that "NO-GH Bomb" has a net weight of 2500 mg (2.5 g). Assuming this is true, then it must contain less than 2.5 g of arginine. How much less, he can't know for sure. If it contains 2.4 g of arginine, for instance, then the combined weight of the other six amino acids in the blend must be no more than 2.5 g -2.4 g = 0.1 g, or 100 mg. Depending on the amino acid, this may be far too little to produce noticeable effects. (Unfortunately, supplement manufacturers may use ingredients in quantities that are too small to be efficacious just so they can list them on the label. This is sometimes referred to as "pixie-dusting.")

While 2.4 g of arginine may sound like a reasonable dose, Chad needs to keep in mind that studies have used 5-9 g of arginine to produce increases in resting GH levels.

What's the solution? Chad has several options:

(1) He can call the manufacturer and ask how much arginine is in the product. They may deny him this information or give him a ballpark figure.

(2) He can pay to have a chemical analysis done on the product. Obviously this isn't practical unless he has a lot of money to blow.

(3) He can take a chance by purchasing the supplement and seeing what kind of results he gets while using it.

(4) He can continue to shop around for a product like BI's Muscle Synergy, the label of which indicates exactly how much arginine it contains (7 g per serving).

Reprinted with permission from Beverly International; May, 2010

Heart Rate Training. The most important muscle in your body is your heart! Everyone needs to engage in regular aerobic activity to keep the heart healthy and strong. On average, you should incorporate a minimum of two - preferably three - 30 to 45 minute sessions of moderately intense cardio exercise weekly.

Sometimes cardio work may seem boring. That's why we have such a variety of cardio equipment for you to use. Mix it up! Try a different machine each cardio workout. Hook up your headset to the BroadcastVision entertainment system and select from any of the four televisions to keep you entertained!

Your goal should be to work up to a point where you can exercise at 60% to 70% of your maximal heart rate. To better understand what MHR is all about and how to calculate it, use the following formula:

To calculate maximal heart rate (MHR) in the 60% - 70% target range:
MHR = 220 - your age (years)

(example: 50 year old person 220-50=170 beats per minute (bpm))
To calculate your target heart rate (THR):
THR = MHR x 0.6 to MHR x 0.7
(example: 170 x 0.6 to 170 x 0.7 = 102 to 119 bpm)

Once you've calculated your THR, training in that range is easier than you think! Each one of our cardio machines is equipped with heart rate monitors built into them. By grasping the special handles your heart rate will be displayed to help you train in an effective and 'heart safe' way.*

*As always consult with your doctor before beginning any training program. Consult with your doctor about any special cardiovascular limitations you may have.

It's Never Too Late to Start Exercising: Study

By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even 80-year-olds have no excuse for being couch potatoes, research suggests. A study has found that people 80 and older who exercise just a couple of times a week can improve their health.

It may seem unremarkable that exercise can provide health benefits, but few studies have looked at whether people 80 and older also benefit from a workout. "Being 80 years of age or greater does not mean that you cannot benefit from exercise," Dr. Peter V. Vaitkevicius, who led the study, told Reuters Health.

The results of the study suggest that "you're never too old to start exercise," according to Vaitkevicius, who is at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System in Michigan. A report on the study is published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

In the study, 22 elderly people rode an exercise bike or walked on a treadmill about twice a week for an average of 20 minutes each time. Before starting the program, the participants were sedentary. Several had health problems, including coronary artery disease and arthritis.

Even this modest amount of exercise led to "nice improvements" in peak oxygen consumption, which Vaitkevicius called the "gold standard" of measuring physical fitness. Peak oxygen consumption measures how well a person is able to transport and use oxygen while exercising.

The size of the improvement, Vaitkevicius said, "was directly related to the time spent exercising." The more people exercised, the more their oxygen consumption improved, he said. Participants in the study, who were all residents of a retirement center, also experienced a drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading). In addition, their aerobic endurance improved during the 6-month exercise program.

According to Vaitkevicius, participants seemed to get more benefits from the stationary bike than the treadmill. "It could be that the mechanics of a treadmill may be a little too much for an older patient," he said. He pointed out that older people may have trouble keeping their balance on a treadmill.

"The bottom line is that exercise is good," Vaitkevicius said. Although this study looked at aerobic exercise, he said that for older and more frail people, the ideal exercise program would also include strength-building exercises, such as weight lifting or resistance training, since the elderly tend to lose large amounts of muscle and strength. In addition, the Michigan researcher said that it may be a good idea to incorporate balance training, such as exercises that are popular in Asia.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2002;50:2009-2013.