 If you’ve ever tried to start a new exercise program you will know that there are many different types of physical activity out there. So how do you know which one will suit you best and bring the most benefit and enjoyment.
To break it down simply (and let you in on our best kept secret), the best type of physical activity is, the only you’re actually going to engage in regularly! If you are trying to complete an activity that you hate doing on a regular basis, the likelihood that you will continue this long term is very slim. Alternatively, if you have a form of physical activity that you are passionate and excited about that brings you joy, we are much more likely to keep participating long term. But how do you find which activity gets you pumped to jump out of bed in the morning? There can be a few different things to take into consideration, for example; do you prefer indoor or outdoor activities? To spend time by yourself or with other people in social situations? What time frame do you have available to complete physical activity? Having a think about each of these things can help form a picture about what type of physical activity may suit you best! Finding your style When first starting out it can be a good idea to think about what types of physical activity you have enjoyed most in the past and what type of personality traits you possess. Some things to consider include;
Setting goals When trying to find which type of activity is going to suit best it is important to think about your health, fitness and wellness goals and why you are wanting to start a regular physical activity program. This will help in both, learning which types of physical activity are going to best help you achieve your goals and reminding you throughout your program why it is important for you to continue. A few examples to help you get started are;
Top tips:
By Aleisha Michael Accredited Exercise Physiologist
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 What is an Intellectual or Developmental Disability?
An Intellectual Disability (ID) or Developmental Disability (DD) are described as limitations in adaptive behaviours and intellectual functioning (things such as reasoning, learning and problem solving). These limitations have an impact on an individual’s everyday social and practical skills. Specific conditions can include Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD or a specific genetic or learning disorder such as Down Syndrome. There are 13% of Australian children diagnosed with an Intellectual or developmental disability. This has varying levels of impact on each child’s life depending on the significance of the limitation. It can make communication difficult, particularly interaction in social contexts, they will often exhibit behaviours with repetitive patterns and will find it difficult to adapt to changes in routine. In some children, particularly those with down syndrome they may also experience additional challenges such as poor eyesight, balance, low muscle tone and hyper flexibility. Why are they at increased risk? Those diagnosed with an Intellectual or Developmental Disability are at an increased risk or many comorbidities developing, due to the nature of their more sedentary based lifestyle. The risk factors that have a significant impact on the likelihood of developing an additional health condition include;
How does exercise help? Individuals with an Intellectual or Developmental Disability experience all of the same positive benefits from physical activity as Individuals without a disability BUT it can also have some additional benefits! Physical activity causes an improved level of intellectual functioning, behaviour and physical health, which have been shown to directly affect the personality of children with ID or DD. In Australia there are currently only 36% of children with an ID or DD meeting the physical activity guidelines. One of the most positive benefits physical activity can produce in ID and DD children is an increase in their focus and ability to concentrate for increased periods of time. This happens through the body moving and causing stimulation in the brain to improve the efficiency of brain neurotransmitters. These are linked to the hormone called Dopamine which assists in controlling attention levels. When regular movement occurs regularly their ability to focus is maintained throughout the day providing increased productivity and learning opportunities. Just some of the other many benefits that physical activity can provide are;
Top tips! When working with ID or DD individuals it is important to be aware of a few limitations or special considerations that may be present.
By Aleisha Michael Accredited Exercise Physiology  What is DOMS I’m sure anyone who has started a new exercise program, or gone to the gym and completed a new class for the first time has experienced Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, which we shorten to DOMS.
DOMS is the ache or soreness in the muscles usually felt the day after exercise, but can last for days. The origins of the soreness and accompanying symptoms are complex, but most believe soreness develops as a result of microscopic damage to muscle fibers involved in the exercise. This type of damage likely results from new stresses that were experienced during the exercise bout. There is a misconception that DOMS is related to lactic acid accumulation, but lactic acid is not a component of this process. What activities are examples, or activities that are known to cause DOMS Basically all activities which cause DOMS all cause muscles to lengthen while force is applied. This is the eccentric muscle action. Examples include the lowering phase of a bicep curl exercise or the lengthening of the quadricep muscles while the limb brakes against your body’s momentum as it walks or jogs down a hill. Example activities are any strength training exercise, walking or jogging down hills, step aerobics, jumping and plyometric activities. Does everyone experience DOMS? Everyone is susceptible to DOMS, even those people who regularly exercise and have been doing it for years. However, the severity of soreness generally will lessen as your body becomes accustomed to the work it performs regularly. And, just one bout of soreness producing exercise can have a partially protective effect that reduces the chance of that same activity causing soreness for weeks and even months into the future. Does DOMS only cause soreness? Muscle pain is only one of the characteristics of DOMS. Some other common symptoms can include:
Can we prevent DOMS? It is unlikely that the soreness can be avoided altogether, however the best way to reduce the severity is to progress slowly into a new program thereby allowing the muscle time to adapt to the new stress. It is also important to allow our muscles to recover between exercise bouts and not undertake the same exercise on subsequent days. Ie, don’t undertake the leg press 2 days in a row. There is a suggestion that a good warm up and stretching helps to reduce DOMS, although there is little evidence to support this, but it is certainly important as part of any exercise program. What can we do to ease the symptoms There is little evidence that any treatment strategies actually make DOMS recovery any quicker or return to normal function faster, but there may be things you can do to reduce the symptoms. These include light activities such as walking, ice packs, massage, tender point acupressure or oral pain medications. So what about the no pain no gain theory? It is unlikely that you will avoid soreness altogether when commencing a new program, however pain is a feedback mechanism of our body and we may need to reduce, modify or refrain from an activity whilst in pain. Pain that occurs during exercise can be an indicator that the exercise is too intense, poor form or other issues, and if this occurs it is wise to modify the activity to prevent muscle or joint damage. Lisa Parkinson Accredited Exercise Physiologist  What is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis or OA is the most common type of arthritis and it affects the flexible tissue at the end of your bones known as cartilage and causes it to deteriorate. Cartilage is a very smooth but firm tissue that allows movement to occur in our joints without friction, but once this cartilage wears done it can result in bone rubbing on bone which causes joint pain. Along with affecting the cartilage OA can also cause deterioration of the connective tissue and bones within the joint while also causing inflammation to occur in the joint lining. OA can occur in any joints in the body but is most common in the knees, hips, lower back, neck and hands. What are the symptoms of OA? OA often develops slowly over time, meaning that not all symptoms may be present initially. Some common signs and symptoms can include;
How can exercise help? It is a common response that when pain occurs it is best to avoid thins that aggravate the pain, such as movement. In regard to osteoarthritis this can actually do more harm than good. Exercise is considered the most effective non-drug treatment for reducing pain and improving mobility in patients suffering from OA. It does this by reducing the stiffness and inflammation that may have developed around the joint through mobility and movement. By strengthening the muscles around the joint it can assist in reducing the stress placed on the joint and some of the bone on bone friction from occurring as much. Exercise not only helps your OA symptoms but also decreases your risk of developing other chronic diseases too! It a win, win if you ask us! What type of exercise is best? Strength training, cardiovascular training, balance training and water-based exercise have proven to be the most effective forms of exercise for reducing pain and improving function. Water-based exercise can be particularly beneficial as it reduces the load placed on the joints, as buoyancy in the water decreases the effects of gravity. Exercise program tailored to individuals suffering from OA aim to;
More information? If you would like more information about Osteoarthritis and how exercise can help, get in touch with us at Optimum Exercise Physiology on 8873 0628 or have a look on the Arthritis Australia Webpage on www.arthritisaustralia.com.au By Aleisha Michael Accredited Exercise Physiologist  When thinking about strength training, it is common for people to picture buffed up body builders and heavy dumb bells. The truth is though that strength training is for everyone and holds a vital role in maintaining our health and function as we begin to age.
What is strength training? By definition strength is the ability of muscle to produce force. This does not describe the amount of force but simply the ability to be able to produce any! Strength focused training comes in many different forms and there is something out there for everyone! Strength training focuses on using resistance through body weight, free weights, machines or anything else that is heavy to produce increased force output from the muscle. When this occurs consistently over time the contractility of the muscle improves, and our nervous system adjusts by increasing the body’s ability to produce force through optimising the use of the nervous system. The main aim of strength training to improve the body’s ability to move more weight over time. Even if gaining strength and muscle mass is not your goal, improving your strength will allow you to get the full benefits from all other forms of exercise. Why is it important? Muscular strength plays a crucial role in our ability to perform everyday tasks and function well. As we age it is even more important to maintain a level of strength as after the age of 50 there is a 15% muscle mass and strength loss per decade! Maintaining muscle mass and strength as you age has been shown to prevent further musculoskeletal issues, chronic conditions, frailty, loss of independence, poor mental health and decreased quality of life. If that’s not a good enough reason to starting strength training, I don’t know what is! Below is a list of just some of the many benefits gained from strength training:
Where do I start? So, you are keen to get started but aren’t sure how? If you have no current musculoskeletal injuries or chronic conditions you can start slow and gradually at home. Use light weights to begin and progress up over time. If you are currently experiencing an injury, pain or chronic condition it is a good idea to get in contact with an Accredited Exercise Physiologist so that they can point you in the right direction and create a program best suited to your current needs. By Aleisha Michael Accredited Exercise Physiologist  What are the basics of weight loss?
Our body weight is affected by the energy that enters our body through food and drink and the energy that our body uses or expands through physical activity and exercise. Consider an old pair of kitchen weighing scales, if energy on one side of the scales equals and is the same as energy out on the other side of the scales, the scales do not move and we maintain our weight (centre below). If however the energy we consume is less than the energy we expend, it tips the scales and our body into weight loss (right below), and the opposite is also true in that if we consume more energy than we are expanding then we will put on weight (left below). How do we go about losing weight? To achieve weight loss we need to either reduce our energy consumption - by eating and drinking less and making healthier food choices, or increase the energy that we expend or burn through exercise and incidental activity. However a combination of both improved nutrition and exercise is the best, and has shown to be the most effective way to maintain weight loss long term. Don’t be fooled, you can't out train a bad diet, meaning that if you are eating high energy foods, it may be difficult to undertake enough exercise to counteract the amount of energy you are consuming. And don’t forget that drinks count too! These include fruit juices, soft drinks and alcohol - they all contain energy which can be detrimental to any weight loss efforts. If we improve our diet, how much exercise should we undertake to help our weight loss efforts? All Australians should be undertaking a minimum of 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise + 60 minutes of resistance training each week for great health and well-being. However, if your goal is weight loss, this amount needs to increase to around 250 minutes or more each week of moderate intensity exercise. Weight loss and fat mass reduction occurs with aerobic training to a more significant degree than with resistance training and adding resistance training to a program does not enhance the change in total body mass compared to aerobic training alone. However, resistance training has a number of benefits to our health and therefore should not be totally left out, but is not the focus when your goal is weight loss. What are the best exercise modalities to burn energy? Food is energy and fuel for our body. Similar to a car, if we put our pedal to the metal and go faster and longer, the more fuel we use, and when looking at it simply, our body’s are similar. However, the amount of energy or calories burned is dependent on a number of individual factors including your gender, body mass, resting metabolic rate, age, body composition, among other factors. However, to give you an idea of how different exercises rate, for an average male ..
Modified exercises The above exercises are not suitable for everyone, especially those who may be carrying a lot of excess weight, or may have injuries. The best place to start is to simply move more than you are now. Find an exercise that you can do, and that you enjoy undertaking, and gradually increase the amount of time spent undertaking this each week. Your long term goal should be to accumulate 300 minutes each week of exercise, in minimum 10 minute continuous chunks/bouts. Want to keep track of your weekly exercise? Use the printable tracker here Lisa Parkinson Accredited Exercise Physiologist  It is a normal thing to feel stress in this day and age due to the constant fast pace of our lives! But it is important to realise when we are in a constant state of stress and the negative impacts this can begin to have on our bodies.
What happens to our body when we are stressed? Stress can affect every organ and system in your body, meaning it can cause more than just a restless night sleep if we are constantly experiencing chronic stress. We will discuss the stages that each of your systems go through when experiencing stress and the long term impacts it can begin to have for you. Initial signs: Most of us have experienced stress at one point or another and can recognise the initial signs that may present. This can include headaches, muscle tightness (particularly around the neck and shoulders), being unable to focus, your mind racing or even flutters in your chest. These are all indicators of the things occurring deeper within each of your crucial systems such as the nervous, circulatory, digestive and immune systems. Circulatory System: Stress causes your heart rate to spike which as a result also increases your blood pressure. Most people’s hearts recover relatively quickly from this when the stress hormone, Cortisol level’s returns to normal again. When you experience long term periods of stress it can result in more chronic conditions such as cardiomyopathy to result. This condition is often known as the broken heart syndrome and can often occur after severe physical or emotional stress, causing the heart’s left ventricle (the pumping chamber) to weaken. Hormones: As we have mentioned stress occurs as a response to an increase in the hormone, cortisol. There are also increases in adrenaline and epinephrine within the body when stress occurs and this can affect our sleep, explaining why we can struggle to get a restful night. The combination of these hormones also increases an individual’s likelihood of having a stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure or even developing anxiety and depression. Digestive system: Besides experiencing some butterflies in your tummy when you become stressed or overwhelmed, stress can have many negative side effects on our digestive tract. Our digestive tract is filled with nerve endings and immune cells which are heavily impacted by the hormones released when we are stressed. This can cause symptoms and conditions like acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease to develop. Brain function: Studies have found that those who experience chronic stress have more activity in the amygdala brain region which is associated with fear and emotion. It can even affect how the brain processes information and negatively impact your cognition and attention levels, explaining why it can be hard to focus or learn new things when you are experiencing stress. Immune function: I’m sure you have all experienced it, that at the most crucial time at work, when Uni exams are approaching or on the first day of your holidays, you come down with a dreaded cold. This is due to your stress levels being high for so long leading up to these events that your immune system has weakened as a result. 3 tips to decrease your stress.
By Aleisha Michael Accredited Exercise Physiologist  Low back pain is very common with approximately 80% of Australian adults experiencing at
at least one episode of low back pain during their lifetime. For most people low back pain is not caused by a serious problem and will resolve with some routine care and exercise. Occasionally low back pain can be caused by serious disease or damage to the tissues of the back. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, you should seek advice from a health care professional as soon as possible:
How can we manage low back pain? If you simply have low back pain without any other issues, then your pain is likely to be ‘uncomplicated low back pain’ that will improve. You may find that a heat pack, certain posture positions, and perhaps surprisingly to some, staying as physically active as possible helps you to manage your low back pain. How Should I Stay active? Exercise is great medicine for lower back pain, with no specific type being found to be superior. Many people believe that core strengthening and pilates type exercises are the best, and while the research shows that these exercises are beneficial for low back pain, they have not proven to be better than other general forms of exercise. The takeaway message from this is: - stay as active as you can, with an exercise you enjoy and feel comfortable with, allowing for the restrictions in movement that may come with pain. Examples are:
If you don’t exercise regularly, an episode of low back pain may be your prompt to start! Walking, swimming and cycling allow people with low back pain to become active and stay active. Some forms of dancing, yoga and tai chi are popular too. The bonus of staying active is that it prevents loss of physical fitness, muscle strength and cardiorespiratory function or deconditioning. Staying active, even if at a reduced volume and intensity whilst you are experiencing low back pain, helps you ensure that other aspects of your health do not decline too. After the initial phase of staying active,how can we progress to keeping pain free? In the initial phase when you may have had severe low back pain, we use exercise to stay active and maintain mobility. After the initial phase, and once pain has reduced the goal is to get you better and stay that way. As your low back pain reduces, you can increase your program of preferred exercise to include ‘graduated training’ and specific exercises that increase your range of spinal movement and strengthen the trunk and abdominal muscles. There is moderate evidence that undertaking exercise at this post-back pain stage can help prevent another episode of low back pain, and that is really important for quality of life. Graduated training means a program that becomes increasingly more difficult. An example is that if you were staying active by walking, to gain further health benefits you now need to walk further, or faster, up hills or carry weights. Increasing and maintaining range of movement is also important to maintain movement in your back, and exercises like tai chi, yoga, and general stretching exercise at home can be included. Strengthening exercises are also important, working the small muscles of the lower back, extending to larger muscles including upper and lower body exercises. Again these need to be graduated, progressively increasing the difficulty and load. We suggest seeking help from your Exercise Physiologist or Physio to help you plan and progress appropriate exercises for your return to full recovery and beyond. Lisa Parkinson Accredited Exercise Physiologist  Have you recently been told you have high blood pressure or hypertension? Are you sick of taking medications every day to help manage your high blood pressure? Are you concerned about your high blood pressure putting you at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and stroke? Then it might be time for you to get moving!
What is hypertension? Hypertension or high blood pressure occurs when the pressure of your blood against the walls of your blood vessels is too high for a prolonged period of time. This pressure is created when your heart beats and is the result of two forces. The first force is your systolic pressure which happens when blood is pumped out of the heart to the rest of the body. The second force is your diastolic pressure, and this occurs when the heart rests between two beats. One of the main reasons that high blood pressure can cause harm is that the constant increase in workload and pressure makes the heart and blood vessels work harder and less efficiently. This can eventually cause damage to the internal tissues, tiny tears in the artery walls, and plaque entering these tears and causing narrowed blood vessels, which further increases your blood pressure. How does exercise help? I’m sure that we are all aware that movement in any form is good for our bodies, but the question is how is it helping our blood pressure specifically? There is a lot of research supporting the benefits of exercise and evidence proving that regular physical activity and moderate levels of cardiovascular fitness protect against the development of hypertension and all cause mortality. Regular aerobic exercise has been proven to decrease daytime blood pressure readings of both the systolic and diastolic values. This decrease occurs because the heart is a muscle and when we exercise this muscle is worked and becomes stronger as a result. When the heart is stronger it is able to pump more blood around the body with less effort, which as a direct result lowers the pressure that is being put on your arteries with every pump. How much exercise should I do? The National Heart Foundation of Australia provides recommendations around physical activity to help manage a healthy blood pressure. We should be engaging 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity activity or 75-150 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise each week. Individuals should also be completing muscle strengthening activities on at least 2 days of the week. Initially this may sound like a lot but it’s as simple as a 30-minute walk 5 days per week and lifting something heavy two days a week. Or if you’d rather smash it out in fewer days, try a 45-60-minute walk 3 days a week and lifting something heavy for 2 days. Before you get started..
By Aleisha Michael Accredited Exercise Physiologist  Dyslipidaemia refers to abnormal levels of blood fats or ‘lipoproteins’. Lipoproteins are the transporters that move fat around our bodies.
The most common dyslipidaemias are high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels known as hyperlipidaemia, high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c, the ‘bad’ cholesterol) and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c, the ‘good’ cholesterol). How is it diagnosed? A blood test called a lipid profile is used to diagnose the condition, and management of dyslipidaemia is important for people with, or at risk of, cardiovascular disease because we know that a poor lipid profile is a significant risk factor for blood vessel damage. The risk of heart problems also increases with high triglyceride or LDL-c levels, or with low HDL-c levels. How does exercise help? Management of dyslipidaemia aims to reduce the risk of cardiovascular ‘events’ such as heart attacks that may occur within the next 5-10 years — this is called the absolute cardiovascular risk. Any lowering of LDL-c and triglycerides, or raising of HDL-c, is likely to reduce this risk. Improving our lifestyle by improving our diet, increasing our exercise to reduce our weight, especially body fat, is a key management strategy for decreasing cardiovascular risk. Physical fitness and regular exercise have both been shown to considerably reduce the absolute cardiovascular risk and death rate. Studies have shown that regular aerobic exercise can:
What types and intensities of exercise are recommended? People with dyslipidaemia should undertake aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes on most, if not all, days of the week to improve their lipid profiles and reduce their cardiovascular risk. This amount can be accumulated in shorter bouts of 10 minutes duration and can be built up over time. We suggest aerobic exercise that uses large muscle groups such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, dancing, skiing, playing ball games or other sporting activities. Research has also found vigorous aerobic exercise to be beneficial and improves HDL-c more than less-intense exercise. Vigorous aerobic exercise is described as a ‘very hard’ effort, and at this level you would not be able to hold a conversation whilst exercising as you would not have the breath to do so. In addition to aerobic training, progressive high-intensity resistance training (i.e. weight training) has also shown to improve HDL-c. For this the goal is to undertake 2–3 sets of 8–10 different exercises, at a load that can be performed for 8–15 repetitions of each exercise, at least twice a week. Don’t forget your warm up before both your aerobic and strength training exercises. Precautions People with known or suspected cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome or diabetes; people with a family history of heart attacks; people with high blood pressure; smokers; men aged over 45 years or women aged over 55 years; and people who have not been doing regular exercise should consult their doctor or Exercise Physiologist before commencing an exercise program. Lisa Parkinson Accredited Exercise Physiologist |
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