Our Latest Newsletter: May 2009

Lifestyle Health Expo

We’re having a Health Expo, and you’re all invited! Meet the professionals, try the latest healthy samples, have a free mini PT session, take a blood pressure test, win prizes and ask those questions you’ve been meaning to ask, at NO COST. It’s the perfect time to invite your friends and family for a fun day out. Did someone say jumping castle?

Lifestyle Fitness Australia’s Health Expo, promises to be an educational day filled with fun and laughter. A day where you can meet the experts, get advice, and enjoy the free stuff!

Best of all, we take care of your little ones in the Lifestyle Kidz Zone crèche free, where they can have their faces painted, and bounce away on a jumping castle! Get Free health checks, quick workouts, Samples, snacks and experience a group fitness class (yoga anyone? Or perhaps BODYPUMP?), plus so much more.

If you’re new to Group Fitness, we recommend you try out the Sampler Class. A taste test of everything, weights, cardio & Pilates; designed for those starting out in Group Fitness and the perfect class to introduce your friends to. And… drum roll please… our NEW DANCE CLASS is set to rock the place!

What are you waiting for? Call the clubs, book in for some of the classes & make a day of it. It’s Your Body, Your Health Your Lifestyle Fitness Australia Health Expo. After all at Lifestyle, “It’s all about you”.

Put Your Mind at Ease

So you’ve just had a great little holiday. You have a demanding job and carry the weight of responsibility on your shoulders. Even though your time off was fun and relaxing, do you dread going back to the office? Wish you had a few more days to yourself? That’s called ‘burnout’.

In this crazy and fast paced business world we find ourselves in today, managers, professionals, staff and self employed business owners are under tremendous pressure and stress to deliver more in less time with fewer resources.  We all face conflicting demands, long working hours, and constant change in an unforgiving business environment that keeps getting tougher, busier and faster.

Companies are finding it hard to hold onto valuable team members as staff are becoming stressed, over worked, and then quit. And on the flip side, Employers are putting so much pressure on their staff, because of the current economic climate, that the former is inevitable.

Due to these 9 to 5 pressures, we spend less time with our friends and families, we lose the passion we once had for our work, and have little work-life balance. Leading to this thing we refer to ‘burnout’.

So what are the symptoms?

Depleted Physical Energy
Prolonged stress can be physically draining, causing you to feel tired. You may no longer have the energy you once did and getting out of bed to face another day of the same, becomes more difficult.

Emotional Exhaustion
You feel moody, impatient, curiously sad, or become frustrated more easily than you ordinarily would. You might feel like you can’t cope with life as smoothly as you once did.

Lowered Immunity to Illness
When stress levels are high for a prolonged amount of time, your immune system suffers. People who are suffering from burnout usually get the message from their body that something needs to change, and that message comes in the form of increases susceptibility to colds, the flu, and other minor illnesses.

Less Investment in Interpersonal Relationships
Withdrawing from interpersonal relationships is another possible sign of burnout. You may feel like you have less to give, or less interest in having fun, or just have less patience with people. But for whatever reason, people experiencing burnout can usually see the effects in their relationships.

Increasingly Pessimistic Attitude
Is it harder to get excited about life, harder to expect the best, harder to let things go making it altogether harder to see the glass ‘half full’? Because optimism is a great buffer for stress, those suffering from burnout find it harder to bounce back than they normally would, resulting in a negative attitude. No one likes a sourpuss!

Increased Absenteeism and Inefficiency at Work
When experiencing burnout, its harder to get out of bed and face another day. You tend to be less effective overall and take more sick days. This could also be due to increased illness resulting from lowered immunity.
It makes sense for workers to take some time off before they’re feeling the full thrown effects, and why it makes sense for employers to refrain from running their workers into the ground!
What’s the solution?

For starters, it can be helpful just to know that the fatigue, helplessness and the physical symptoms you're experiencing are not all in your mind. They are not signs of weakness - they are part of a larger problem that you can take steps to solve:

Sing
Being extroverted doesn’t necessarily mean you have to embarrass yourself in public. If entering a room in song and dance doesn’t resonate with you, you can always belt out a tune in the confines of your own home. SO crank up the radio and tech Aretha Franklin how to hold a high note.

Disagree
Believe it or not, disagreeing and telling people what you really think (in the nicest possible way) will help build feelings of liberation and confidence within yours soul.

Ask
If you’re feeling the symptoms, ask for help! Talk to your manager about how you’re feeling and ask them for some advice or support.  Being a little more removed from the situation, they may present some fabulous solutions. It will also give them invaluable insight into your headspace, and perhaps they will give you a little more room to breathe.

Laugh!
Next time someone tells you a funny story don’t just smile – laugh, giggle, chuckle. Loudly! Some studies suggest that laughing helps reduce the damaging effects of stress hormones in the body. When you laugh, you elevate your mood and just feel better in general.

Speak up
Ask questions in meetings, share your opinions, or start a conversation with a co-worker about the plot of the movie or new TV show you saw over the weekend. Being a little more chatty will help distract you from stressful thoughts, making parts of your day enjoyable so when you get home, its not all miserable.

Climb a mountain
Compete in a marathon, walk a mile, go for a long bike ride. Taking on any sort of challenging physical feat is a bold, assertive move that will boost your happiness and send feel good brain chemicals pouring into your bloodstream. Any kind of physical activity will do this, so join a gym, a sporting team and get active!

Personalise your work space
Making your work area feel homey and less clinical shouts to the world, “this is my space”. Choosing interesting and engaging objects for your desk and surrounding yourself in things you love will help create an environment you actually want to be in… a home away from home. And a great conversation starter.

The key is to take charge of your life. Realize that you have chosen your path in life up until now, and that you can choose to change direction any time you wish. No one likes a nasty, negative co-worker and the only person who can get you out of this rut it you so take the first step to regaining control of your life today.

RESISTANCE TRAINING AND ITS BENEFITS TO THE SENIOR!

Recent research has shown that older cancer patients can exhibit increased strength and task-performance abilities after undertaking a program of resistance training. Similar studies have been conducted in the past in seniors without the disease and the results very similar. Involving eight male and female patients aged over 65 years, a team led by Catherine Jankowski, PhD, tested ways to fight the loss of function that affects older people, especially those who have had treatment for cancer.

The study subjects completed three exercise machine circuits, three times a week for four months. Nine other older people constituted a control group who continued their daily routines without additional exercise. The results indicate that the participants in the exercise group displayed significantly greater strength in the chest press and leg press than their control group counterparts. The exercise group also exhibited superior upper body physical functioning performance, which translated to an improved ability to perform everyday tasks; including dressing, walking up stairs, vacuuming and carrying groceries; making everyday life easier.

Participants’ daily walking levels were monitored by the study researchers to identify whether or not the strength training had any negative side effects such as fatigue or restriction of their usual day to day physical activities. Through the use of pedometers they were also able to confirm that those in the exercise group and those in the study group didn’t have any significant differences in the amount of walking, or incidental exercise, in their usual daily lives. None of the subjects were regular exercisers prior to the study. There were no negative signs to exercising to any of the case studies.

Jankowski said, ‘What study participants did in the gym had a significant effect on their ability to do day-to-day things. It’s clear that exercise can help seniors live independently as long as possible’. Explaining the importance of the study, she noted that more people now survive cancer, but that the treatment which allows them to do so, combined with some lasting effects of the disease, can result in compromised physical function; ‘People are surviving cancer and” generally we are all “living into older age – but how do we prepare to help them with quality of life?’

So we can clearly see how beginning an exercise routine at any age can benefit us all. Why settle into a sedentary life when there is a whole world waiting for you to explore? Many of our seniors find they make new friends while they exercise, especially in a group environment, or with a personal trainer. This again adds positively to their life and happiness. If you fit into this category, get up and get active. It’s a time when you should be a little more selfish and enjoy life to the fullest.

Source: IHRSA & Additions Paul Peroy.

EXERCISES OF THE MONTH! – TRICEPS OVER HEAD EXTENSIONS

One of the greatest things about this exercise, is you choose the level you feel comfortable with. As your fitness progresses, increase your weight size.

Grab a weight plate on each side.

Sit on a bench on, feet hip width apart or crossed (depending on what feels more stable for you).

Arms extended over head, elbows facing forward.

Lower the plate behind you by bending the elbows (keeping your elbows in & your back straight).

Try to keep your body still by bracing your abdominals for control & isolation of the Triceps.

Three sets of about fifteen repetitions are recommended.

Disclaimer: As with any type of physical activity, it is advised you warm up for 5 minutes before commencing exercise, followed by 5 minutes of stretching upon completion. These exercises are designed as a basic guide and professional consultations should be taken before commencing any exercise.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MARRICKVILLE MEMBER DEV KRISHNA!

Dev Krishna has been in the fitness game his whole life and a member of lifestyle fitness for a few years now, “The discipline and motivation that comes with regular exercise & a healthy lifestyle not only benefits a strong body & mind, but extends itself in all aspects of my life” he proclaims. He has entered approximately 6 completions and has a few trophies under his belt, most recently placing 3rd in this year’s under 80kgs IFBB (International Federation of Body Building).

Congratulations Dev! Feel free to go see him for some hints and tips - you’ll find him hanging out at the Lifestyle Marrickville supplement store, Bodyline supplements.