Gym etiquette

Approaching a new gym can be intimidating, especially if you’re new to the gym scene. However, if you have a basic knowledge of gym etiquette, you can feel more comfortable about getting started and becoming a good gym citizen.

First, it’s important to think about the gym and its equipment as your rented space. Everyone within the gym is sharing both the space and equipment, so it’s important to refrain from viewing a machine as “yours” or spending an inordinate amount of time with one machine. Be cognizant of others who may want a turn using the weights or machine you are using. Consider moving through various machines to free them up for others.

Another important concept is allowing others their space. This includes not staring at others who are working out. Recognize that there is a difference between surveying the landscape and getting a good feel for who is in the gym and simply staring at others. This can make everyone uncomfortable. Focus on what you are doing. Try not to select a machine that is immediately next to another person when there are others available that provide more of a buffer.

Ensure that you are wearing proper gym attire. If you’re going to a new gym, check in advance with gym staff if they have any restrictions on attire. If you need a spot, feel free to ask someone nearby and similarly, help someone out if they need assistance. When you’re done using a machine, you must wipe it down. During cold and flu season, you may want to wipe the machine before and after use. In fact, if you are sick, you should avoid the gym entirely. Prior to using the machine, check it quickly and make sure there are no issues. This will help to avoid injury and assist gym staff. When using free weights, try not to drop them and always rerack the weights when you’re finished.

Be a good gym citizen and follow these tips. This will help to make the gym a more fun, safe place for everyone.

How to of strength and mass

2 weeks to a younger brain | Dr. Gary Small

Dr. Gary Small is a professor of psychiatry and the director of the UCLA Longevity Center. He is one of the leading innovators in science and technology. He has written six books, including 2 Weeks to a Younger Brain.

Dr. Small explains that an older brain doesn’t work as fast and usually doesn’t remember as well as a younger brain. Though we really can’t see brain aging, there is much we can do to compensate for memory decline and improve brain health as we age. One technique involves engaging in mental pursuits that challenge you, but are not too overwhelming, nor too easy. Additionally, engaging in more physical exercise can reduce your brain’s susceptibility of Alzheimer’s Disease.

If you’re having memory struggles, you need to adopt a method that is easy to remember. Dr. Small talks about focus and frame. The focus is a reminder that we need to pay attention. The frame involves building a framework around the information to make it meaningful, thus making it easier to remember.

Dr. Small also notes that excess weight will impact one’s cognitive abilities. Studies have shown that middle-aged, obese adults have an increased risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. Inflammation associated with weight gain can lead to inflammation in the brain, which can have an impact on memory. When we lose weight, we can actually experience an improvement in memory performance.

Exercise can not only help you to lose weight, but it enables the heart to pump more oxygen to the brain cells. The body also produces endorphins which can lift your mood. Strength training can provide additional cognitive benefits. Stress, food, and relationships are other factors that should be addressed to improve brain health.

In 2 Weeks to a Younger Brain, Dr. Small includes a two-week program to help you develop a younger brain. One such activity is playing Sudoku, or even creating a Sudoku puzzle if you find doing the puzzles to be too easy of a task. To connect with Dr. Gary Small, visit http://www.drgarysmall.com/.

Get the Sudoku puzzle at http://older.fitness/sudoku

Healthy brain happy life | Dr. Wendy Suzuki

Start here | Eric Langshur & Nate Klemp

In this episode, we talk with Eric Langshur and Nate Klemp about their new book, Start Here: Master the Lifelong Habit of Wellbeing.

Eric Langshur, a seasoned corporate executive and entrepreneur, is the founder of Abundant Venture Partners. Years of research into the intersection of philosophy and neuroscience have established him as a thought leader in optimizing wellbeing.

Nate Klemp, PhD, is a Stanford-Harvard-Princeton trained former philosophy professor and an expert in understanding how the tools of ancient and modern wisdom can be used to improve individual wellbeing. They have founded Life Cross Training together to foster a greater sense of wellbeing at work, home, and in all areas of life.

We’ve heard of cross training in fitness, such as sprinting for cardiovascular conditioning, and weight training for strength.   Eric and Nate believe that just like in fitness and popular physical fitness training programs, they believe that you can cross train for the skill of wellbeing.

Eric and Nate discuss the guiding theme of the book is that wellbeing is a skill that can be trained.   The science community has taught us that the brain does not have a fixed number of neurons, but that our brains can change and we can use our minds and certain sets of practices to change our experiences at life and at being alive. They structure the book with a structure of recommended practices for well-being. We also discuss how good practices lead to good habits and the benefits of meditation. Exercise is also discussed and its benefits on emotional as well as physical well-being.

Start Here: Master the Lifelong Habit of Wellbeing is a thought provoking book that is well researched and scientific, yet it is also filled with simple and basic guidance for taking care of both our physical and mental well-being.  Additional information, including a training course, can be found at starthere.life.

How to be here | Rob Bell

Life on purpose | Dr. Victor Stretcher

The end of heart disease | Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Today we talk to Dr. Joel Fuhrman about his philosophy of the nutritarian diet and his new book, The End of Heart Disease: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. Dr. Fuhrman is a Board-certified family physician with over 25 years experience in nutritional medicine. Through his medical practice, as well as his New York Times best-selling books and PBS specials, Dr. Fuhrman has helped thousands of people lose weight permanently and reverse chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and chronic pain syndromes, including migraines, using a nutrient-dense, plant-rich eating style that he calls the Nutritarian diet.

Grounded in the latest scientific research as well as his years of clinical experience treating heart disease, Dr. Fuhrman’s book outlines a plan that can lower cholesterol and blood pressure, reduces your weight, heals obstructive coronary artery disease, and can even eradicate advanced heart disease.   His philosophy is that all of this can be corrected without the prescription pad, as Dr. Fuhrman believes the most powerful drug on the planet is food.

According to Dr. Fuhrman, while heart disease and strokes are the leading cause of death in the United States, most heart disease-related deaths are preventable with diet and nutrition. Dr. Fuhrman coined the term “Nutritarian” to describe a diet that is nutrient-dense and plant-rich, and includes anti-cancer superfoods, which also facilitate weight loss. These foods supply both the right amount of macronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrates) and the vital micronutrients (vitamins, phytochemicals and minerals) that unleash the body’s incredible power to heal itself and slow the aging process, giving the body renewed vitality.

Dr. Fuhrman is also the author of other NY Times best-selling books, Eat to Live, Super Immunity, The End of Diabetes, The Eat to Live Cookbook, and The End of Dieting. Additional information about the nutritarian diet and Dr. Fuhrman can be found on his website (https://www.drfuhrman.com).

The end of heart disease | Dr. Joel Fuhrman

The china study solution | Dr. Thomas Campbell

Weak handshake, early grave

Is it true that there is a correlation between grip strength and longevity? Could the quality of a handshake really tell more about how long one will live? Actually, an April 2007 study in the American Journal of Medicine examined this very idea. Among men and women ages 45 to 75, there was in fact a correlation between a weaker grip strength and a higher likelihood of passing away.

Perhaps grip strength is a proxy for overall body strength. After age 35, the body reduces its muscle mass through natural processes. It can become difficult to open jars or hold onto things when they’re heavy. This is why it’s so important to continue building your strength, including grip strength, as you age.

One technique is to use strength gripping tools designed specifically to help your grip strength.  This is especially great to consider if you sit at a desk all day or if you don’t have access to a gym. If you use the bars at the gym, you can opt to wrap a towel around the bar to make it bigger, thus requiring a larger grip and building better grip strength. You can also purchase actual grips that can be placed around the bar, instead of using a towel.

Other exercises or techniques can be incorporated such as basic compound carries, dead lifts, hanging from a bar, and a farmer’s carry. These will not only improve grip strength, but work to increase your overall body strength as well.

A handshake can be very telling, as it is a window into one’s level of grip strength. Grip strength may even become a limiting factor in the ability to get stronger, if the grip gives out before the larger muscles. Improving grip strength will not only help you build overall strength, but it may even help you live longer.

Uncommon exercises

Sleep smarter | Shawn Stevenson

Shawn Stevenson is the creator of The Model Health Show, the number one fitness and nutrition podcast on iTunes. He also founded the Advanced Integrated Health Alliance and is the author of Sleep Smarter.

In his early 20s, Shawn was diagnosed with degenerative disc and bone disease. At age 20, he had the spine of an 80 year-old person and couldn’t change positions in his sleep without waking up. This had a critical impact on the quality of sleep he was getting. He made a decision to take action and was able to completely regenerate the tissues in his spine. As a result, he began working with thousands of others in similar situations through his clinic.

However, some patients were not seeing results. Once Shawn quizzed those patients about their sleep patterns, he wondered if there might be a connection. Shawn helped these clients employ proven strategies to improve their sleep, and interestingly enough, they began seeing positive results in their health.

Shawn explains that sleep is very important to our overall health, noting that sleep deprivation is one of the biggest factors that can reduce our lifespan. Additionally, taking 20 Ambien pills per year doubles one’s risk of dying early. While the true impact will be different from person to person, everyone can use documented, natural methods to improve sleep. Medication should be used only where deemed extremely necessary.

One factor that can be detrimental to sound sleep is inner chatter. While the bed should be a place of calm and relaxation, often times the brain is hyperactive at night. This can make it difficult to go to bed early. The key is to train your brain to calm down, which is typically achieved through meditation. An effective treatment for insomnia, meditation enables you to channel your focus. Incorporating deep breathing exercises can also help you feel more at peace and more present.

Sleep Smarter contains 21 sleep strategies and 14-day makeover plan—everything you need to reboot your sleep. To connect with Shawn Stevenson directly or to get the book, visit www.sleepsmarterbook.com or http://www.themodelhealthshow.com/.

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Healthy habits | Dr. Cris Beer

Dr. Cris Beer studies biomedical science and integrative medicine. She is a health consultant for the Biggest Loser retreat, a personal trainer, and the author of Healthy Habits.

Dr. Beer explains that we are creatures of habit, and that what we practice most will become a habit. Some of these habits enter our lives by chance, but then with repetition they are incorporated into our lifestyles. When this repetition occurs consistently, new pathways are formed within the brain that makes this new habit a sort of automated process. Typically, it takes 21 to 40 days to form a new habit.

One of the ways to help form a habit is through positive association. If the act is making you feel good, you will want to keep doing it. Another factor is ensuring that the act is achievable. This will help to set you up for success. Similarly, to avoid certain habits, make them inaccessible. Accountability is another important factor in building habits. It is helpful to have someone or something to hold you accountable. This will prevent you from talking yourself out of doing what you have committed to doing.

Dr. Beer also shared the top five habits to incorporate in order to make a big difference to one’s overall health in a short period of time.

The first is to avoid a shrinking brain by avoiding caffeine and alcohol, as these can dehydrate you and cause anxiety. Alcohol in particular is a sugar that can impact your overall health as well. The second habit is to sleep well consistently, ideally getting seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Additional habits include eliminating toxic stress, balancing your blood sugar, and learning to breathe properly.

By adopting these healthy habits, you can truly take control of your health and see real change in your life. For more information on Healthy Habits or to contact Dr. Cris Beer directly, visit www.drcris.com.au.

You Can Run Pain Free | Brad Beer