Let’s Get Physical

How to build strength in your arms, shoulders and work your core with the ‘Suitcase Walk.’

Doing this exercise will not only improve your ability to do day to day tasks like carrying bags etc, but it will strengthen your obliques, forearms, deltoids, and traps according to Dan John, a national masters champion Olympic lifter.

Performing the Suitcase Walk is a focused way to encourage the burn you feel after carrying heavy items over a long distance. Walking while carrying heavy items forces your core to work to stabilize your body and    leaves your obliques and shoulders burning. Do this exercise at the start or end of a workout.

Pick up a heavy enough weight, around 20 – 35 kilograms is a good start for most men, and hold it by your side like a suitcase (hence the name) standing upright, keeping your shoulders back. Maintain a good upright posture and walk for 40 to 100 yards. Put the weight down, pick it up with the other side and repeat.

Don’t be afraid of going heavy with the weight. You’re looking for a weight that will challenge your core to maintain good form. Always bend your knees when picking up or putting down the weight. Try performing this exercise a couple of times and perform it once a week.

7.    Beat the cravings

Are you continually tempted by crisps, biscuits and other snacks? Have you been thinking of that chocolate bar all day? Well crave no longer, throw them all out!! A bit too extreme?

According to research carried out by Cornell University, you are 3 times more likely to eat a healthy snack if it’s in your direct field of vision when you open your fridge or food cupboards than actively search for them if they’re out of sight. So the quick fix would be to only have healthy snacks in view and ‘keep your sweets as treats’ tucked away.

Try substituting with fruits and fat snacks for a sweet tooth and vegetable sticks and baked (rather than fried) savoury snacks. Also to distract from your cravings, try activities to take your mind of unhealthy food and curb your hunger pangs with your healthy snack.

6.    Build up stamina and endurance

I know it sounds like a contradiction but the best way to improve your endurance and stamina is to increase you speed! That’s right, going faster improves endurance not going for longer. Confusing? According to Bill Hartman, who is easily one of the best and well known authorities in the field of Sport & Fitness, suggests breaking your run down into intervals at your goal speed. So for example, if your 5-K goal is 24 minutes, then you must run a mile in 7:40, a half-mile in 3:50, and a quarter in 1:55. Start with the smallest interval first and work your way up over time. Rest between each interval for as long as you ran. So if you manage to achieve running 4 quarter miles in 1:55 or less each interval then move up to a greater distance and repeat the method until the goal distance is achieved.

5.    Quick fix for the old peepers!

Your eyes get strained when the eye muscles get tired. This can account for poor eyesight. However it could also be down to the eyes being dry! Research conducted in Norway recently found that people blinks at least 10 times fewer per minute when they are staring at a screen than when you’re engaged in conversation.

As a result the tear film, which is the outer layer of moisture on the surface of the eyeball, can evaporate more quickly. This can affect the health of the eye itself.

So it wisely recommended that you take an eye break every so often when using a computer or watching television and close your eyes to re apply moisture to the eyes surface. If your eyes are still dry try eye drops made to re-moisture the eye.

4.    Mend your ears

This might seem off the beat and track but it is a health concern none the less. Any factor hindering a sense is a health issue in my book.

Doctors examining the ears using the Otoscope (or Auriscope) know that there are lots of guys who have too much wax in their ears, mostly because many of them push it deep into the ear canal when using cotton swabs improperly.

Using an at home Do – It – Yourself kit can’t always get to the wax that gets deeply impacted into the eardrum, so a doctor will have to be the first point of call to remove any build-up, generally using saline or suction techniques. Sometimes docs need to use small scoops called curettes. Whichever method, it’ll be a relatively quick and painless procedure that yields great results. (You’ll be able to hear for miles!)

And while you’re at the doctor’s office, make an appointment for that full physical you’ve been putting off for years!

3)    Stop procrastinating, get on with it!

Don’t keep thinking about it, don’t add it to your things to do list, don’t get distracted with something else completely random and off the point, Just get on with it! According to Pychyl, a leading psychologist who has studied procrastination, your to-do list is just another way of delaying what needs to be done. It’s a tactic with a short-term rush. He states “We relieve our anxiety by making this false schedule.”

Being a procrastinator doesn’t necessarily mean you are bad at time management, it just means that you may not be willing to deal with the discomfort of getting started as put by Pychyl. But once started you will overall feel better about it. “Our emotional well-being and our satisfaction with life,” he says, “is based a great deal upon the successful pursuit of our

2)    New lease of life for your workout

Working one side of your body at a time can influence the body to improve strength and develop muscle. One sided or unilateral training requires balance and therefore improves stability. It does this by improving core strength, improving your coordination and prevents muscular imbalances.

You can add these exercises to your usual workout to get all the afore mentioned benefits. Try performing:

•    Single legged squats (with dumbbells or smith machine)
•    Single are dumbbell press
•    Single arm shoulder press (with dumbbells or use a machine)
•    Single leg dead lift ( using a dumbbell, with the dumbbell in front or either side)

Start with 8 to 10 repetitions with one side of the body and then switch sides and that’s one set complete and then repeat. Perform a further 2 sets resting 1 minute between sets, completing a total of 3 sets per exercise. Change the order of your workout every 4 to 5 weeks to keep challenging the body. Start off with a light weight initially until you are used to the weight and you’ll soon be reaping the benefits.

Taking care of the smaller issues and making a few minor adjustments in life can improve life in big ways, reducing stress and improving health. Succeeding in one of your goals can improve your sense of wellbeing, satisfaction and self confidence motivating you to do more.

1) Repair your posture

Trying to sit up straight to maintain a perfect posture all day can be impractical and can tire you out. Instead try standing up every 20 minutes for around 20 seconds taking time to stretch and loosen up. Spending just 20 seconds away from a computer screen can improve alertness, reduce tiredness and increase the bloods circulation. You should now be able to actively sit up straight.

999 – Emergency Services

We must ALL know that this is the number to call in an emergency situation whether its medical, police, etc, but one thing we need to remember is not to waste time in an emergency situation. In a recent campaign run by The British Heart Foundation, they were trying to highlight how important it is to call 999 straight away with the slogan ‘Doubt Kills’, particularly in a suspected heart attack situation.

There are many who could testify to this fact. ‘A heart attack is not always as portrayed on TV’ and symptoms are can easily dismissed until it’s more serious or even too late. However this situation can often be immediately life threatening. Take early action in these situations as acting in time could save a life. For medical queries of a less serious nature try NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

Get your 8 hours of sleep

It’s been recently looked into that the decline in physical and mental performance usually associated with the ageing process may be a result of disturbed sleep patterns. A study by the National Sleep Foundation stated that ill health wasn’t a result of ageing but of lack of sleep or proper sleep. As a result of the study they found a direct link between diagnosed medical conditions and the quality of sleep.

There are a number of ways to increase the chances off drifting into a good night’s sleep, without the use of strong over the counter medication. Natural supplements such as Valerian are used and recommended for its calming and soothing effects when taken at night before sleep. A few simply adaptable lifestyle changes can also make a difference, such as going to bed at the same time every night which creates a routine and reading a book in bed instead of watching TV.