Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

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. 

Halloween is just around the corner, and we all know what that means: candy… almost everywhere! While candy is a tasty treat, as with most things, too much can have its consequences. Most candies provide very little nutritional value and are full of added sugars, one of the nutrients the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest most individuals limit in their diet. Added sugars provide calories (4 calories/1 gram of sugar) and when consumed in excess, can result in dental cavities and difficulty achieving a healthy dietary pattern within an individual's caloric limits, which may result in unintentional weight gain. However, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t or can’t indulge in foods containing added sugars, like Halloween candy! Instead, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans provides a recommended daily limit for added sugars, advising individuals to consume no more than 10% of their daily caloric intake from added sugars. For perspective, someone who consumes 2,000 calories/day, should consume no more than 200 calories from added sugars, or less than 50 grams of added sugars each day. This year, be mindful of how many grams of added sugars you’re consuming from Halloween candy and try to keep your total daily added sugar intake below what is recommended based on your recommended caloric intake.

Curious about how many grams of added sugars your favorite Halloween Candy has?

• Reese’s Cup® (3 miniature cups): 13 grams added sugars
• Kit Kat® (4 mini/fun size bars): 17 grams added sugars
• Brach’s® Candy Corn (12 pieces): 22 grams added sugars
• Twizzler® (3 fun size pieces): 12 grams added sugars
• M&Ms ® (2 fun size packs): 16 grams added sugars
• Twixx® (3 mini/fun size bars): 8 grams added sugars
• Crunch® (2 mini/fun size bars): 14 grams added sugars
• Butterfinger ® (2 mini/fun size bars): 14 grams added sugars
• Milkyway ® (4 mini/fun size bars): 19 grams added sugars
• Snickers ® (3 mini/fun size bars): 13 grams added sugars
• Hersheys® (2 mini/fun size bars): 13 grams added sugars

What is your favorite Halloween sweet treat? 

First, let us define meditation. The term “meditation” refers to a variety of practices that focus on mind and body integration and are used to calm the mind and enhance overall well-being. How does less stress and better overall health sound? Several studies have demonstrated multiple health benefits, including reduced stress, anxiety, fatigue, depression, chronic pain, and disease severity for inflammatory bowel disease, and cardiovascular disease.

Things meditation can help with:

Boosts immune system
According to a study published by National Academy of Sciences, meditation appears to suppress damaging processes in the body while boosting cortisol levels, which helps the function of the immune system.

Reduce stress and anxiety
Stress reduction and anxiety reduction are two of the best-known benefits of meditation. A study published by the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry indicates that meditation helps reduce stress response and anxiety because it addresses anxiety disorder symptoms.

Slowing down the progression of Alzheimer’s
A recent study showed that a combination of meditation and breathing exercises can help slow down the development of dementia-related diseases. Other studies suggest that mindfulness meditation helps people cope better with the anxiety, stress and depression that often accompany memory loss.

Improves memory
Meditation training can enhance various cognitive processes, such as emotional regulation, executive control and attention, particularly sustained attention, according to a study done by Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Journal.

Helps stave off depression
Meditation can boost the mood and help people overcome depression, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Improves sleep
Mindfulness meditation appears to improve sleep quality and reduce daytime disturbance in people with chronic insomnia and older adults.

Are you excited about all these health benefits and want to get started today?
TRY THIS! It will only take 5 minutes…

Find a blank spot to stare at in front of you at eye level, as you begin to focus your attention on your breathing. Set a 5-minute timer. In through the nose, exhale through the mouth. As you look at that spot and take a few deep breaths, you’ll notice it is difficult to focus on that spot. When you begin to feel your gaze soften, exhale, and close your eyes. Sit here in silence with your brain until the timer goes off. Allow each thought to come and go, keep passing them along. The more you practice the more blank time you will find between the thoughts, but at the beginning you may have a constant flow of thoughts. Keep bringing your awareness back to your breathing. Think of these 5 minutes as a reset. When your phone is acting goofy, you turn it off and back on for a reset. This is a reset, to assist you in becoming more relaxed. You can practice this hourly or once a day. It may feel boring, and that is the point! We quiet off that part of the brain that is constantly firing and it allows more relaxation that will be a building block to unlock less stress, better health, and more intuition.

A significant value component we bring to our senior living clients is that our staff have a team of peers doing this work across the country and we pride ourselves in collaboration and networking best practices across our client sites. It’s important that fitness stay fresh and fun to maximize engagement in your community and with dozens of emails just like this circulating around our team each month, the flow of ideas is constantly elevating how we serve our clients. Below is a monthly recap email from our superstar staff Kayla Hill in Towson, Maryland that was sent to our team of managers in 14 states across the country. She has a wonderful team at her community who she collaborates with regularly to bring these special programs and events to life and as you can see, she has a lot of fun doing it and sharing her story with her peers.

If your community could benefit from a stream of fresh ideas to enhance resident engagement in your fitness offerings, contact NIFS today.

Fueling your body before and after exercise is essential for ensuring you will have enough energy to both perform and recover. However, it is important to choose the right  foods, and to consume them at the appropriate time, to optimize your nutrition. What and when you eat varies depending on the individual and their preferences, the type of activity being performed, and whether the food is being consumed before or after physical activity.

Pre-Exercise Nutrition
Ideally, you should aim to eat within 1 to 3 hours of exercise. When you should eat will
depend on the amount of food that is to be consumed. Allow 3-4 hours for a large meal (400 calories or more), about 2-3 hours for a smaller meal (200-300 calories), and one to two hours for a snack (100-200 calories) to digest. Eating too close to physical activity may result in gastrointestinal discomfort or impaired performance. Everyone’s body is different, so try
experimenting to see what time frame is best for yours. Similarly, consume familiar foods that you know will not cause stomach discomfort during activity (common culprits include
fried/greasy foods and high fat/very high fiber foods).

Good pre-exercise snacks/meals include:
● Cereal with fat-free milk and a piece of fruit
● Whole grain toast with mashed avocado or peanut butter
● A fried or scrambled egg with whole grain toast
● Low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt with fruit
● A fruit smoothie

Post-Exercise Nutrition
Typically, it is best to eat within 1 hour of an intense workout. If you’re unable to tolerate
a large meal after exercise, a small snack or meal (100-300 calories) should suffice until you’re able to stomach something more significant. Despite being finished with your activity or exercise, it is still necessary to replenish your energy stores by consuming carbohydrates and/or fats with your post-workout meal. Additionally, obtaining enough protein is important for muscle recovery and repair.

Good post-exercise snacks/meals include:
● A protein shake or smoothie
● Chicken, tuna or turkey on whole grain bread/toast
● Low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt with fruit
● Low-fat chocolate milk
● Hard-boiled egg and string cheese

Don’t forget to hydrate! Consuming a large amount of fluid prior to exercise is likely to cause an upset stomach, so try to stay hydrated throughout the day before and after exercising, and keep a water bottle with you during activity when possible! A general rule of thumb is to drink at least 8 ounces of water for every 10-20 minutes of exercise you complete.

Exercising in the pool is great way to get in a workout! The water helps support you and allows you to challenge yourself! You can safely push the limits of your balance or get a thorough strength workout without putting too much stress on your joints compared to working out on land. Have you ever considered taking your flexibility workout into the pool? Increasing the range of motion within your joints and developing flexibility in major muscle and tendon groups can keep you mobile, promote better posture, and help prevent injuries. All these combine to reduce stress on your body!

People of any age can improve their flexibility and range of motion by practicing flexibility exercises! Seniors can start to see their flexibility grow within a month if they consistently practice two to three days each week, although stretching is most effective when done daily. Older adults should try to hold each stretch for 30-60 seconds and repeat each stretch three times. You don’t have to try to twist yourself into a pretzel to get a good stretch. Small movements or static stretches that help maintain or increase flexibility for each muscle group will do the trick. When you hold a stretch, you should never feel pain and you should breathe throughout the stretch. Hold a stretch until you feel tension in your muscles, but don’t pull so hard that it hurts.

When you first get into the water, be sure and warm up before you start stretching because flexibility exercises are most effective when the muscle is warm. Start by walking a few laps around the pool to loosen up. If you are exercising in a heated pool, that’s a bonus for stretching!

Take advantage of all parts of your pool. Do you have steps leading down into the water? Use the bottom step as an extra level while stretching! A safety bar along the shallow end of your pool? Perfect! Holding onto the bar can help you pull closer into a deep calf stretch. A bench seat along one wall? This way you don’t have to get your hair wet while doing seated stretches.

Try a few of these stretches in the water! Take deep, slow breaths, and stretch both sides of your body. Be sure and stay hydrated even when exercising in the water! If your pool is outdoors, don’t forget your hat and sunscreen.

• Stand at one end of the pool and face the wall. Hold onto the wall for balance. Position your toes and the ball of one foot on the wall. Keep your heel of the other foot on the floor. Straighten your legs, stand tall, and use your arms to pull your hips toward the wall until you feel the stretch in the calf of your front leg
• Extend one leg out in front of you propping the heal on the floor, straighten your knee as far as you comfortably can, and pull your toes up towards the ceiling. Stretch your arms straight ahead until you feel a stretch along the hamstring of your front leg.
• Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and rest your arms on the surface of the water. Slowly rotate your torso side to side while keeping your hips facing forward.
• Try to clasp your hands behind your lower back and straighten your elbows. Lift your chest up towards the ceiling and raise your hands up behind you as far as you comfortably can.

The pool is a great addition to your fitness routine. Take your flexibility workout in the water and see what you can do in the water!

We all know it’s essential to stay hydrated in the summer and that the best way to do so is by drinking plenty of water. But is there a certain type of water, such as “alkaline” water, that offers better hydration? Here’s what our RD has to say.

Alkaline water is typically fortified with small amounts of “alkalizing” minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and/or sodium to increase its pH, making it less acidic. The pH scale is used to specify the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of a water-based solution. The pH scale ranges from 0, highly acidic, to 14, highly basic. For perspective, some everyday liquids and their respective pHs include battery acid (pH = 0), tomato juice (pH = 4), baking soda (pH = 9) and bleach (pH = 13). While pure water has a pH of 7, alkaline water typically has a pH of 8 or 9.

Some individuals hypothesize that drinking water with a higher pH than that of the body’s blood - between 7.35 and 7.45 for healthy individuals - can help decrease acidity in the body by raising its overall pH. However, the pH of the body is tightly regulated by our kidneys and lungs and excessive acid build up is unlikely, unless an underlying health condition is present, such as kidney or respiratory failure, severe infection, uncontrolled diabetes, or physical muscle trauma. Even in cases such as these, a lot more would need to be done than drinking water with a slightly higher pH than that of the body. With a pH of closer to 2-3, stomach acid would likely neutralize the water immediately, regardless of how high its pH. And even if the extra “alkaline” in alkaline water was able to make it into our bloodstream, it would quickly be filtered by our kidneys and removed from the body by way of our urine.

Overall, alkaline water is still water; therefore, it is generally safe for consumption and serves its main purpose: to hydrate you. However, any out of the ordinary health benefits boasted on the label are likely just a marketing tactic. Nevertheless, alkaline water is a great choice for hydration, especially when compared to sugary, high-calorie beverages such as soda, sugary sports drinks, and/or juice. Be sure to stay hydrated this summer by drinking plenty of water - alkaline or not!

Do you drink enough water throughout the day? The body and all of the systems in it require a certain level of water to preform everyday activities. Staying hydrated can help move waste out, maintain a normal body temperature, and cushion your joints. Here are six tips to make sure you stay hydrated throughout the day.   

Carry a water bottle. A reusable water bottle is a fantastic way to increase fluid intake while reducing plastic waste. You are going to be more likely to drink water if you have it with you than you would if the water fountain was right down the hall. A water bottle makes water readily available to you whenever you feel thirsty. You could even personalize your water bottle to make it an accessory, like a purse or watch.  

Add flavor. I get it, water can be bland, flavorless, and not all water tastes the same. Give your water a touch of flavor by adding produce. There are water bottles that are made for fruit infusions! Citrus fruits, berries, cucumbers, mint, or rosemary added to your water can bring delicious flavors to your drink. Water flavoring packets like crystal light or electrolyte water additives can be a low-calorie way to add flavor to your water. You will be more likely to drink it if the water is not bland. 

Make it part of your routine. Become attached to your water bottle just like a cellphone. When you wake up in the morning, grab your water bottle and take a drink. You can add sips of water into your day after something you do often throughout your day. If you answer phones all day, take a sip of water after you hang up. This will become a habit if you stick to it. Soon you will catch yourself taking a drink of water because your desk neighbor’s phone rang. Just remember to refill the bottle when it is empty.

Alternate your drinks. You do not have to give up your juice, smoothie, coffee, or favorite tea. These drinks do have water in them although not enough to keep you hydrated. Try having a glass of water the next time you go to fill up you cup. A cup of water every other drink can help keep you hydrated without you craving tea or juice later. This method can also help you cut back on the caffeine and sugar intake. 

Eat your water. Hydration does not always come from drinking water. Certain fruits and vegetables contain high levels of water that can aid in hydration. Melons, cucumber, apples, lettuce, and others can help keep you hydrated if eaten throughout the day. When drinking water gets bland or you are in the mood for a healthy snack, give fruits and vegetables with high water contents a try.

Try sparkling water. If soda has become the first thing you reach for when you are thirsty, then flat water is not going to appeal to you. Switch out your soda for a can of sparkling water to quench your thirst. Sparkling water has less sugar and less calories than soda. Regular water does not contain the carbonation your body is so used to from drinking soda. Sparkling water contains that carbonation and comes in different flavors to satisfy your thirst while keeping your taste buds happy.

Throughout my career in the health and fitness industry, I am constantly asked “what’s the best” cardio equipment, snacks, health bars, time of day to exercise, etc. Hopefully I can shed some light on some simple but important questions and answers.

What is the best form of cardio equipment?  Very simple, the one you like and enjoy using. If you hate running or walking, the treadmill would not be the best fit even if it is a good piece of equipment. If you watch tv or read while you do your cardio workout, a recumbent bike where you are supported may be the safest option for you. Follow you brain, if you enjoy the activity, let the piece of equipment you use guide your choice of equipment.

What is the best snack? There are many organic options but the simplest with the least ingredients is always the best. Fresh fruit, cut up vegetables, lean protein like Greek yogurt or cheese or good old fashioned air popped popcorn are good choices. If you have a sweet tooth and are craving ice cream, pick up some frozen fruit bars. They are only 100 calories per bar, and some have actual fruit in them.

What should I eat in the morning if I’m not a breakfast person? By now you have all heard the importance of eating breakfast. Think of your body like a car, would you ever let your oil or fluids go low? Same thing with food. Do not deprive your body of food and please do not deny your body carbohydrates. They are the fuel of your body. Some simple ideas include an apple with peanut butter, fresh fruit, or yogurt with berries.

What is the best health bar? This goes back to you, which bar do you enjoy? Choose options that are low in sugar and have at least 10 grams of protein.

What’s the best exercise? I’m a big fan of push-ups! When done correctly, they work your core and are a complete upper body strength movement. Plus, there are a variety of modifications that can be used to maintain proper form by using a wall or countertop versus getting all the way down on the floor. Perform push-ups for the upper body and sit-to-stands for the lower body and you have worked the major muscle groups of the body with those two movements alone!

My balance is terrible - should I not exercise? Yes, you should absolutely exercise! By not actively engaging your muscles your balance will worsen. Start slowly, you didn’t lose your balance in a week, and you will not gain it back in a week. Work with a fitness professional to begin an exercise program customized to your needs that will allow you to safely build your strength and endurance over time.

As we get older, the answers to our questions 30 years ago are not the same answers. With so much misinformation out there, continue to listen to your body and keep moving!

Summer is the best time for outdoor activities and fuel in the form of food is needed to support the fun. However, food safety can be a challenge in the summer, with more individuals becoming sick with a foodborne illness than any other season, as the warmer weather is an optimal environment for bacteria to grow. Between leaving food out in the hot summer sun to accidental cross contamination on the grill - here’s how to ensure you’re keeping your food safe this summer.

1. Wash your hands.
   • As always, you should wash your hands before preparing or eating any food, however, it is especially important to do so before and immediately after handling raw meat.
   • If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

2. Cook food at the proper temperature.
   • Utilize a clean thermometer to measure the temperature, rather than guessing based on how it looks. Fresh fish, pork and beef steaks/chops should be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 145°F, while eggs and ground beef (hamburgers) to 160°F, and 165°F for chicken and turkey.
     
     
3. Store food properly.
   • Not only is it important to cook food to the proper temperature, but food must be kept at the appropriate temperature to avoid bacterial growth that can result in unsafe food.
   • Cold foods should be kept below 40°F and discarded if they reach a temperature of 70°F or higher.
   • Hot foods should be kept above 135°F, refrigerated within 1 hour if it’s >90°F outside, and discarded if they have been sitting below 135°F for >4 hours.
     
     
4. Don’t cross contaminate.
   • Marinate foods in the refrigerator, rather than on the counter or outside. Dispose of marinades and sauces that have come in contact with raw meat/raw meat juices immediately.
   • Keep raw food separate from cooked food.
   • Use a separate utensil/serving dish for handling raw and cooked meats and other foods.