Articles

Feb62015

What is high blood pressure?

ExerciseBy Staff February 6, 2015 Leave a comment

When is the last time you had your blood pressure checked? Over one quarter of Australian adults experience high blood pressure, with the likelihood increasing as you age.

It is important to regularly have your blood pressure checked, as regular high blood pressure (hypertension) can often be asymptomatic and go undiagnosed, despite the negative effects it is having on your body. Hypertension can be treated and controlled, however, if it is not, the heart is forced to work harder, putting it under a greater amount of stress and putting you at a higher risk of experiencing a heart attack, stroke, heart failure and kidney disease.

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Feb42015

Time for a change

UncategorizedBy Staff February 4, 2015 Leave a comment

Whether it’s starting an exercise program or starting treatment for an injury a common question that often pops up is “how long before I get results?”

This is often a difficult question to answer. This article outlines some of the influences that will not only help you to be realistic with how long results will take, but can also guide you towards other positive changes you can make to support your journey.

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Jan292015

Stress & your body – the other side

Mental Health, PainBy Staff January 29, 2015 Leave a comment

When talking about the effects of stress on the body people often think about heart conditions, diabetes and other metabolic outcomes associated with high stress levels. One area that is little talked about is the effect of stress on the musculoskeletal system. Stress can cause some quite strange manifestations to this system that seem almost implausible.

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Jan222015

The importance of stretching

Exercise, FlexibilityBy Staff January 22, 2015 Leave a comment

Stretching is very important, in particular as we get into our more senior years. It helps us to keep our independence and ability to do tasks that we once thought were so easy such as tying our shoelaces or reaching to get something from a top shelf, but can become increasingly difficult as we age.

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Jan202015

Getting a roll on

Exercise, FlexibilityBy Staff January 20, 2015 Leave a comment

Recent research into foam rolling has highlighted the fact that foam rolling can be a powerful tool to help keep your muscles and joints healthy. A recent study reported that sessions of foam rolling after exercise can help to reduce the normal pain that is often experienced after exercise whilst another study found that foam rolling sessions produced immediate improvements in joint mobility. These are just a few of the benefits of foam rolling.

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Jan132015

Lift and lose it

Aerobic Exercise, Exercise, Men's Health, Metabolic Disease, Resistance TrainingBy Staff January 13, 2015 Leave a comment

One of the most common goals that we see with men attending Active Seniors is the desire to shed weight around their midline. This is a great goal as more than 60% of Australian adults are overweight, and the fat surrounding the abdominal area is the most dangerous because it surrounds important internal organs.

It is important when looking at your weight to also measure your waistline.

As we age muscle mass and fat tend to be unequally distributed around the body, so though you may weigh the same overall as you did before a large waistline from fat buildup can be balanced against, for example, reduced upper body muscle mass and result in a higher risk for metabolic disease. When looking at your waist measurement, anything greater than 94cm for men and 80cm for women puts you at an increased risk of this.

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Jan82015

Get a grip

Exercise, Pain, Resistance TrainingBy Staff January 8, 2015 Leave a comment

Shoulders are a common problem area for many people. Is easy to see why when you look at the anatomy of the shoulder. Our shoulders are designed to move….. ALOT!! However this comes at the cost of stability.

When looking at rehabilitation for the shoulder, the rotator cuff often takes the spotlight. While it is an important stabiliser of the shoulder it is not the only one, and it shouldn’t be the only focus of rehabilitation programs. One area that IS often neglected however is grip strength.

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Dec312014

Beginning an exercise program

Aerobic Exercise, Balance, Exercise, Flexibility, Resistance Training, UncategorizedBy Staff December 31, 2014 Leave a comment

The new year heralds fitness and exercise goals for many people, however there are important considerations to be aware of when starting a new exercise program.

Remember that an exercise program needs to be based on you, your strengths, your weaknesses and your goals.

What may be suitable for you to do in an exercise program may not be appropriate for the person next to you who has been exercising five days a week for the past eight years or the person on the other side who has osteoporosis and has just had a knee replacement.

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Dec292014

New Years Resolutions

UncategorizedBy Staff December 29, 2014 Leave a comment

Around Christmas time people often start to look towards the year ahead and start to think about new year resolutions. What a change a day can make! What is it about the 1st of January that gives us this call to action that the rest of the year couldn’t evoke? Is it that we want to enjoy the festivities (namely the food and drinks!) and the beginning of the new year marks the end of these festivities? And why is it that most New Years resolutions eventually fail?

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Dec232014

Be stronger, live longer

Exercise, Men's Health, Resistance TrainingBy Staff December 23, 2014 Leave a comment

New research has suggested that rather than focusing so much on the weight you see when you step on the scales; we need to look into body composition. This means that we need to look at the make up of your weight, for example how much muscle mass and body fat you have in your body. This has been highlighted in research published in the American Journal of Medicine which has shown in older adults that a greater muscle mass may lead to a longer life (1).

Unfortunately as we age we generally start to lose our muscle mass. After the age of 30 this can occur at a rate of around 3–8% reduction in lean muscle mass per decade! This can be for a variety of reasons with a leading cause being the fact that often when we age we become more sedentary. Think about it. Are you as active as you were in your 20s?

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