Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to let health take a back seat to our daily responsibilities. This often results in a sedentary lifestyle, which not only affects our muscles but can also slow down our digestive system. Just like a well-oiled machine needs all its parts to move effectively, our digestive system thrives on regular movement. In this blog, we’ll explore the relationship between digestion and exercise, what the science suggests, and how to incorporate practical strategies to keep things moving. Let’s dive in and unlock the way to a healthier, happier gut! 

The Science Behind Digestion and Exercise 

Exercise can affect our digestive system in many ways, mostly yielding beneficial results but occasionally leading to digestive discomfort if done incorrectly. Factors like meal timing, meal composition (amount of fat, protein, and carbs), exercise intensity, and duration all play a role. For instance, a high-fat meal before intense exercise may lead to digestive discomfort, but if the meal is given enough time to digest, it can actually improve exercise performance. So, how can exercise specifically aid digestion? 

Science shows that exercise generally has a positive impact on digestion and gastrointestinal health. It has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer and accelerate gastric emptying, the time it takes for food to leave the stomach, which can help relieve constipation. However, high-intensity or prolonged exercise can sometimes cause acid reflux or other digestive discomfort in certain people, particularly based on personal medical history. Finding a balanced exercise approach maximizes benefits while minimizing potential risks. 

Practical Tips for Healthy Digestion 

Now that we have the baseline understanding, how can we implement movement to improve digestion? Research supports that any form of low-intensity exercise can be beneficial, such as: 

• Walking: Walking at a leisurely pace can be a convenient option, whether it’s around the block, your office, or a nearby park for 10–20 minutes after meals. A higher step count also brings a range of other health benefits. 

• Yoga/Tai Chi: Gentle movements and stretches are ideal to aid digestion without causing discomfort. Avoid pushing the intensity to ensure that food is digested comfortably. 

• Biking: Like walking, low-intensity biking at a pace where you can maintain a conversation is a good option for digestive support. Aim for 10–20 minutes. 

Overall, exercise and digestion are closely related, and a short, low-intensity walk after meals can encourage healthier digestion by speeding up gastric emptying. Allow an hour after eating before attempting high-intensity exercise to avoid digestive discomfort. 

When it comes to athletic performance and recovery, one advancement in recent years has been compression clothing. From professional athletes to fitness enthusiasts, compression garments have become a staple in many wardrobes. But what exactly is the science behind compression clothing, and how does it impact our bodies during exercise and recovery? Let's dive in and explore the world of compression wear.

The Science Behind Compression Clothing

Compression clothing works by applying pressure to specific parts of the body, typically the limbs, to improve blood circulation and lymphatic flow. This increased circulation can have several benefits for both performance and recovery.

1. Enhanced Blood Flow: During exercise, muscles require a steady supply of oxygen-rich blood to perform at their best. Compression garments help to improve blood flow by constricting blood vessels, which in turn increases the velocity of blood as it circulates through the body. This enhanced blood flow can lead to improved endurance, reduced fatigue, and enhanced overall performance.
2. Reduced Muscle Oscillation: Compression clothing has an ability to reduce muscle oscillation, or the small vibrations that occur in muscles during movement. By providing external support to muscles, compression garments help stabilize them, reducing the amount of energy expended during exercise and minimizing muscle fatigue.
3. Improved Recovery: By increasing blood flow and reducing muscle oscillation, compression garments can help to speed up the recovery process following intense exercise. This can lead to reduced muscle soreness and stiffness, allowing individuals to bounce back more quickly and continue training at a high level.
4. Temperature Regulation: Some compression garments are designed to help regulate body temperature during exercise. By wicking away sweat and moisture from skin, these garments can keep the body cool and comfortable and prevent overheating during intense workouts.

Selecting Compression Gear

When selecting compression clothing, it's important to consider factors such as fit, material, and intended use. Compression garments should fit snugly against the skin without being uncomfortably tight, and they should be made from breathable, moisture-wicking fabrics to maximize comfort during exercise.

Different types of compression clothing may be better suited to specific activities. For example, compression sleeves or socks are often used during running or cycling to improve circulation in the legs, while compression tops can provide support to the upper body during activities like weightlifting.

Compression clothing offers a range of benefits for athletes and fitness enthusiasts, from improved performance to enhanced recovery. By understanding the science behind compression wear and choosing the right garments for their needs, individuals can elevate their training and optimize their health and fitness. So, whether you're hitting the gym, pounding the pavement, or simply looking for a more comfortable way to recover after a tough workout, consider incorporating compression clothing into your routine.

Improving your running time and efficiency can seem overwhelming. Whether you are a beginner or well-seasoned runner there is always room for performance improvement.

Understanding and building an anaerobic base is vital, let’s learn more! It’s important to understand anaerobic training and how it can benefit you. Anaerobic training is exercise that occurs in the absence of oxygen and is usually seen in short high intensity bursts of exercise. Things like heavy weight training, running, or cycling sprints are all considered anaerobic forms of exercise. This seems counterintuitive to train as you are running long distances, however, sprints can assist in building your cardiovascular endurance. This form of training can increase lactate threshold, allowing runners to run faster and longer while improve running efficiency. Utilizing hill sprints, high intensity intervals, or tempo runs will get you where you desire to be!

Different then anaerobic, the primary source that drives our energy systems during aerobic exercise is oxygen. Exercises like walking, running, hiking, and swimming are usually done at a lower intensity but for a greater distance overall. Developing your aerobic capacity will allow you to utilize oxygen more efficiently which will allow you to run at a faster pace while keeping the perceived intensity low. Setting up your aerobic training will be based on what goal you set. If your goal is to run a mile as fast as you can, running 1.5 – 2.5 miles will be enough to give you a satisfactory result. But if you signed up for your local 5k, then those number will increase up to 4, 5, or even close to a 10k. This might seem counterintuitive as you are running further than is required, but further distances will pay dividends when it is time to race.

Now that we have our running training program set that’s all we should need right? Not quite, another critical ingredient is strength training. Implementing a strength training routine to your program can elevate your training and allow you to reach your goals. Utilizing strength training can increase the amount of muscular strength and core balance needed to run faster and longer. From a muscular perspective, keeping the muscles in tip top shape will allow you to run more often and will prevent injuries. Strength training can assist in mobility and allow the joints to go through their full range of motion. Supplement your running program by adding strength training at a minimum of once a week, ideally 2 – 3 times a week.

This year don’t allow yourself to achieve the same mile times. Achieve more this year by following these simple tips. Now get on the road and let’s start earning some mileage!

The holiday season is about getting family together and spending quality time with each other. But as the weather gets colder, nights get dark sooner, and the weather becomes gloomier people tend to stay inside and become less active. Staying active during the holiday season doesn’t mean one has to go to the gym and pump some iron. There are other great, family – oriented activities that can get people moving! Let’s discuss some everyday tasks that can help burn calories and get people moving more throughout the holiday season!

Commonly, when people think of burning calories, they assume people need to change into a workout outfit, dedicate time out of their day, and get to the gym. There are common activities that people perform daily that cause a calorie burn. Think about walking, walking doesn’t require a dedicated amount of time or energy.

1. Set an alarm every hour to walk just 10 minutes around the house, one can burn 30 – 75 calories depending on one’s age, sex, and weight.
2. Everyone loves a clean house, depending on the cleaning activity and duration you can project typically 50 – 100 calories burned for general cleaning. Of course, depending on the intensity of the household activity one can project a higher calorie burn.
3. Shoveling snow, everyone’s favorite winter activity, can burn close to twice that amount in the same amount of time.

Now that there is a general framework for how many calories people can burn cooped up at home, but how about what happens when people go out and get the family involved? Dedicated winter activities are a great way to get the family together and share some beautiful memories. An added benefit is being able to move around, have fun, and build a slight sweat.

1. Skiing is a common winter activity that many enjoy each year. Depending on the modality that people are skiing one can burn more calories. Skiing at a low speed and intensity will burn less than skiing downhill and skiing downhill burns less calories than skiing at a moderate speed.
2. Snowboarding is another fun activity that can bring family together while focusing on movement during the holiday season. If someone was to snowboard for an hour, they could estimate a near 300 – 600 calories burned for an hour of fun.
3. Ice Skating is another common winter activity that can be either a fun family event or a great date idea. Ice skating at a nice, general pace can have you burning hundreds of calories in an hour. Of course, if someone increases the intensity and tries to race or are a figure skater, then one can project an increase in the calories burned.
4. We can’t forget about sledding. The top three options can present some ecological issues, mainly being that not everyone lives in an area where skiing and snowboarding are viable options and not everyone lives close to an ice rink. Typically, everyone has access to a sled, some snow, and a hill of any size, then the sledding conditions are perfect.

During this holiday season, try to expand your ideas on ways to stay active. Don’t be confined to only doing circuit training or dreading the journey to the gym. Think of the small, simpler things that can be done to increase one’s energy expenditure and incorporate the family in activities this holiday season. Curious what those activities might translate to in calories? Do a simple google search for activity calculator or use this one.

What is your favorite calorie burning activity to do with family during the winter months?

When going through one’s fitness journey, there are often times when working out becomes repetitive and boring. When that feeling of monotony starts to take place it’s generally a good idea to find a way to spice up your training. You can do so by varying your intensities during training, which in many cases is a great idea. But another way to add some variety to your training is by simply substituting movements in on a cyclical basis. Let’s discuss why this is helpful and then talk about some ways to change up your routine.

Why would it be helpful to change your routine? Well in terms of preventing overuse injuries, it’s one of the easiest ways to prevent them.¹ This can be from a perspective of not just doing one modality of exercise, such as sticking to just running or cycling for cardio, or from a perspective of doing a similar exercise for over a period of weeks and months. Another benefit to changing up your routine, and specifically the exercises being utilized, is that it can help optimize training for strength and hypertrophy.² In terms of hypertrophy this change of exercise may provide a novel stimulus which can induce greater change in hypertrophy. In terms of building or producing strength, changing exercise selection while keeping intensity the same was shown to be more efficient than keeping the exercises the same or varying both the exercises and the intensity.³ Of course this has its caveats for both hypertrophy and strength, such as a redundancy if there’s an excess of variability in exercise selection.²

So now that you know the why, how are some ways to go about changing your routine? There are some simple but effective ways you change up your exercise selection without going too drastic with the changes.

1. Change the angle or range of motion of the movement: An effective way of changing the exercise without doing a completely new movement. For angle, think of it in terms of a chest press. You could either press completely horizontally or you could press it at an incline or a decline. The movement is different in a stimulus sense, but not completely foreign where your new to it. For range of motion, a good example could be a deadlift. Either you could pull it from the floor, you could stand on a platform and have the bar be lower than normal (decreasing ROM), or you could place the bar on pins/platforms (increasing ROM).
2. Use a different tool: Another easy way to do the same exercise but also changing up is by using different equipment for the same movement. Think of it in terms of using a barbell or a set of dumbbells for set of shoulder presses. The movement is identical, but the stress placed on the joints and muscles would differ.
3. Use accommodating resistance: Accommodating resistance, also referred to as Variable – Resistance, is when you use the addition of other equipment such as chains or resistance bands to affect the strength curve of a lift.

Connect with your Fitness Center staff and change up your workout with a new exercise prescription. 

Sometimes it’s hard to juggle all the daily responsibilities in life. Balancing work responsibilities can be difficult enough but trying to also maintain a social life at the same time can feel impossible. Being able to manage your time can be invaluable in many ways. There many benefits of having time management skills and having the right strategies can improve your skills. 

To start, time management is a process in which you plan and control the amount of time dedicated to certain tasks. This will in turn boost your efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity during the day. Controlling your time will allow you to become better at organizing and in turn will help you control your time both personally and professionally. Having the necessary skills to manage your time has different benefits for people, including:

• Increased time for self
• Improved feeling of accomplishment
• Improved self esteem
• Increased satisfaction in life

The more you can limit work stress and the more time you spend on yourself, the happier you will be. So how do we improve our time management skills? Here are some strategies you can implement:

1. Know How You Spend Your Time: Making a time log of what you do during a day can help determine how you are already using your time. Over the span of a week or two, record everything you did in a 15-30 minute interval. Evaluate how you used that time. What time of the day are you most motivated? What tasks took the most time? Where do you value your time the most? Reflect on if you’re investing your time wisely, or if you need to reinvest time in other things.
2. Set Priorities: Distinguishing what is urgent and what is important determines whether you’re managing your time effectively. Some of the most important tasks are not the urgent tasks, but that does not mean that you should let the urgent tasks control your life. Determining what tasks must be done can help you gain control of your life while reducing the amount of tasks that may become urgent.
3. Use a Planning Tool: Utilizing a planning tool can increase your productivity. Writing down  tasks, making notes on your schedule, and jotting down items to remember can free up brain space to focus on other, more important tasks. Review your calendar daily, synchronize your apps if you use two different types of planning tools, and always have a backup. Some examples of a planning tool: Time Trackers, Time Savers, Calendars, Task Managers, Habit Developers, etc.  
4. Get Organized: You can’t manage your time if you’re disorganized, and research has shown that clutter has a  negative impact on perceived well-being.
5. Stop Multi-Tasking: Humans in general are not efficient at multi-tasking. Studies show that multi-tasking doesn’t save time or increase efficiency. In fact, it does the opposite. Routine multi-tasking may lead to difficulty concentrating and maintaining focus.

Time management is a skill that can be vital to one’s success. What are some other strategies that you have found to help manage your time?

The impact of physical activity on mood has been researched over the last few decades. There has been speculation that an increase in physical activity can provide a substantial positive impact on one’s mood, but to what extent? Let’s dive into the known relationship between physical activity and mood, how much of an effect physical activity can have, and finally will provide a few brief explanations over the mechanisms of which physical activity increases mood!

Multiple studies have shown clear consensus for the benefits that physical activity has on the symptoms of depression and anxiety. It has been shown that the increase levels of physical activity and exercise are inversely correlated with depression levels. Exercise is also being shown to improve other quality of life indicators for individuals such as improvement in self-esteem, vitality, general well-being, and satisfaction with physical appearance.

There has been a lot of speculation from the actual significance that physical activity has on mood. Physical activity has had similar effects on depression symptoms as compared to those of antidepressant medications. Even maintaining this “antidepressant’ effect that can outlast the exercise period. These findings can have a beneficial impact on even people that are not suffering from clinical levels of depression. In terms of what facet of fitness has an impact on mood, both aerobic and anaerobic methods of exercise have shown an immensely beneficial impact. Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise programs (where roughly 65% of a persons VO₂ Max is reached) showed improvements in behavioral, mood, and anxiety responses. However, strength (anaerobic) training at low to moderate intensities produced the most reliable and robust decrease in improvements!

Now that I have shown the benefits of exercise, let me explain some of the mechanisms that can cause this improvement in mood. There are two different complex biological mechanisms that occur in your body that may explain the boost in mood with regards to exercise. Firstly, it may be due to a response within the body that has to do with inflammation. Physical activity and exercise reduce chronic inflammation in the body, which is then joined by a lower expression and usage of tryptophan. This limited usage of tryptophan will lead to accumulation, which then results in additional tryptophan being within the bloodstream for your central nervous system. Tryptophan has two major jobs for us in this case: it aids in the biosynthesis (creation) of serotonin, and it also seems to aid in the transmission of serotonin across the blood-brain barrier. As more tryptophan crosses the blood-brain barrier, consequently higher serotonin concentrations are found in the brain as well.

Another possible biological explanation is the endorphin perspective that physical activity and exercise can play on mood. Endorphins are produced by the hypothalamus and pituitary glands during strenuous exercise. They often resemble opiates in their ability to produce euphoria and analgesia. Exercise elicits the secretion of these endorphins in the brain reducing pain and cause general euphoria. Which then later, these same endorphins may reduce anxiety and depression levels.

Have you found that regular exercise affects your mood? Share below!