DOES EXERCISE IMPROVE LEARNING IN CHILDREN?

Recess and physical education time has steadily decreased or been eliminated in school districts around the nation, displaced by more time focused on academics. Even though research validates physical activity guidelines for children, which encourage exercise at least 60 minutes a day for physical benefits, exercise and its effects on a child’s ability to learn had not been researched widely until the latter part of the 21st century. With the advent of sophisticated technologies, science is now able to prove that exercise benefits the brain in numerous ways thus benefiting and improving learning in children.

Exercise Improves Learning In Children is a post from: Live Fit and Sore

Cancer Survivors Who Stay Active Live Longer

Can going for a walk improve cancer survivors’ long-term prognosis? It may, according to new research showing that exercise can lower survivors’ risk of premature death, not only from cancer but from any cause. The findings are likely to resonate widely at a time when about 14 million Americans, and many more worldwide, have survived cancer.

In one report, a major new review published this month in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, scientists at the agency gathered available studies examining exercise and cancer survivorship, dating to 1950. Most had been published in the past five years.

“This is an area of growing scientific interest,” says Dr. Rachel Ballard-Barbash, the associate director for applied research at the National Cancer Institute and lead author of the study. “Exercise is an accessible, low-cost intervention. But before we can suggest that cancer survivors become physically active, we need to understand what effects exercise has” on the bodies and life spans of those who’ve been given a cancer diagnosis.

To date, messages about the effects of exercise on cancer patients have been mixed. Some physicians have worried that exercise might exacerbate the fatigue that is common after cancer treatment. Others have raised concerns that the physical stress of exercise could even create conditions within the body that might contribute to tumor recurrence.

Cancer Survivors Who Stay Active Live Longer is a post from: Live Fit and Sore

This is a great series offered by CrossFit.com. It will really inspire you to get yourself together and focus on YOU. Get you fit and on the way to wellness.  Watch it, you will be glad you did. Each episode is less than 20m and seriously, will inspire you. Do it!

I have included the synopsis below but essentially it’s the every day guy – mr suburbia – who has let himself go. Has forgotten who he was and lost his way. He finally comes to a point in his life when enough is enough and he decides to make a change. It’s a true story and relatable – many of us, men and women, have been there. It’s a story about crushing his perception of WHO CrossFit is for and HOW focusing on himself can improve his life in so many mind blowing ways.

Killing the Fat Man Series

Twenty years ago, Gary Roberts was a 187-lb. Marine. Today, he’s roughly 270 lb. and starting to believe he’s destined for an early heart attack or open-heart surgery.

Join Roberts—and CrossFit HQ filmmaker Sevan Matossian—on the 16-week journey to “kill the fat man” at Oceanside CrossFit in California.

“Fit, to me, is the ability to do everyday things that I used to do when I was in shape and can no longer do,” Roberts says. “It’s about time I stopped looking at other people, looked at myself and said, ‘Hey, let’s change your habits.’”

For his first WOD at Oceanside, he does a short chipper involving a row, squats, sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups.

“Bam, that’s it,” says trainer Laura Patefield.

After struggling through his band-assisted pull-ups, Roberts says he feels good.

“Things are burnin’ I haven’t even known existed,” he says. “There’s … places I don’t think I’ve flexed in a long time.”

Patefield responds, “It’s going to change your life.”

Killing the Fat Man: Episode 9

Killing The Fat Man: Episode 8

Killing the Fat Man: Episode 7

Killing the Fat Man: Episode 6

Killing the Fat Man: Episode 5

Killing the Fat Man: Episode 4

Killing the Fat Man: Episode 3

Killing the Fat Man: Episode 2

Killing the Fat Man: Episode 1

CrossFit Series: Killing the Fat Man is a post from: Live Fit and Sore

In less than a year, Arthur completely transformed his life. If only he had known what he was capable of, 15 years earlier.

Change: Anyone Can Do It!! is a post from: Live Fit and Sore

Some interesting NPR stories:

Going Inside The World Of ‘Crossfit’

Sizing Up Americans In ‘The Weight Of The Nation’

A new four-part documentary airing on HBO next week looks at America’s growing weight problem. John Hoffman, vice president of HBO Documentary Films and executive producer of The Weight Of The Nation, describes his three year-project to document the causes and effects of being overweight and obese in America.

A Workout Can Change Your DNA

Reporting in Cell Metabolism, researchers write that when people who lead relatively sedentary lives worked out the DNA in their muscle fibers changed almost immediately. Scientists also found caffeine had the same effect on isolated rodent muscles. Study co-author Juleen Zierath discusses the DNA modifications.

Read More NPR stories on Health and Fitness

NPR Health and Fitness Stories is a post from: Live Fit and Sore

What can we do as parents and mentors to encourage and support young girls to embrace physical fitness?  I don’t know about you all, but I know for a fact that women do sweat! Feminine, girly, frilly women – they do. I have seen women in the gym – leaving sweat angels all over the place. I like to say “clean up on aisle 2″ when I see a pool of sweat and have said it for many of women. These women clean up nicely too.

What is it about girls and puberty that they start to lose interest in so many things that will help them further along in life — math, science, fitness. They lose their self esteem, confidence, belief that they can do anything.  They can do whatever they are willing to work for — just like the boys that sit next to them in class.

I let the fear of being sweaty go a long time ago — it happens, we are human and my kids, seeing mom and her friends rolled up in a ball of sweat at the end of a hard workout helps the cause. Maybe that’s the key – as parents we need to show our kids that we fit fitness in, no matter what is going on. We get sweaty, sore and spent — Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk…

Studies Show that Gym Classes May Make Women Hate Exercise

Forty-eight percent of girls surveyed said that “getting sweaty is not feminine”– and almost a third of boys surveyed agreed, according to a report in the Telegraph. Fifty-seven percent of girls agreed that girls tend to drop out of physical activity because their friends do, and 76 percent of girls agreed that they feel self-conscious about their bodies; about a quarter of them feel like gym class forces them to put their bodies on display. 

Apparently, the insecurity and self-consciousness continues into adulthood. A different study, released last month by the British mental health charity Mind, found that 90 percent of women older than age 30 are crippled by low self-esteem and body-confidence issues when they try to exercise in public. 

Some try to get fit by exercising in the dark or wearing baggy clothing, but most tend to avoid outdoor activities entirely, their report found. Instead, 71 percent of the 1,450 women surveyed said that they were more likely to eat comfort food, 66 percent said they’d rather sleep, and 71 percent would rather find a way to be alone instead of exercise. 

Getting sweaty is not feminine and other myths is a post from: Live Fit and Sore

I coached my first adult CF class solo this AM – rockin the red coaches shirt. It was fun and what was even better was that I could have a cup of coffee before I went! Whoo hoo – that was a treat.

Last night, I was talking to one of the CFI Whole Life Challengers who is down about 10 or so pounds.  She steps on the scale every day and is finding herself discouraged. I wanted to slap her — Seriously! If you look at her, she looks slimmer and no matter what the scale says — she has changed.

I was talking to her about what success means to her in this challenge. What is her metric? If it’s a number on the scale — then so be it but based on my experience – that is not what you strive for. You strive to LIVE better. FEEL better. BE better. It’s not a number on a scale, at least its not for me.

I asked her why she would step on something EVERY DAY that makes her feel less than she is. It may never show the number you want it to in your head, but does that mean you are worth less or have not worked hard enough? That’s a question for you to answer on your own. Maybe you haven’t really put in the work and it reflects in the number but maybe you have and the number still isn’t there. So What?  It doesn’t negate the work you have done.

Why are we programmed like this? Why do we believe that a number defines us? We could feel great one minute, step on the scale and in an instant we are experiencing defeat. Don’t give that scale the power.

And while I am at it – why do we NOT believe people closest to us?  Your friends, fellow challengers, family are telling you they see a difference — but we don’t believe them. Are they intentionally lying to us? Why would they lie to us? Is it because they don’t want to hurt our feelings or kill our spirit as we head down our fitness journey? For the most part, I highly doubt it. They are supportive and want to acknowledge the changes they see — Learn to accept their praise, their encouragement, their rah rah attitude and use it to propel you further.  And use it to combat the voices in your head trying to make you believe you aren’t worth it, you aren’t good enough, you haven’t done your part —  Those voices in your head need to be changed — so start today!

Change the Voices in Your Head – Start Today! is a post from: Live Fit and Sore

There are so many benefits to getting regular exercise — you feel better, you look better, it can help prevent many, many diseases and maladies that plague so many people.  There is also a ton of research out there suggesting that it can help prevent Alzheimer’s.

Preventing Alzheimer’s: Exercise still best bet

Mounting evidence suggests that physical activity may have benefits beyond a healthy heart and body weight. Through the past several years, population studies have suggested that exercise which raises your heart rate for at least 30 minutes several times a week can lower your risk of Alzheimer’s. Physical activity appears to inhibit Alzheimer’s-like brain changes in mice, slowing the development of a key feature of the disease.

There is now evidence that exercise can help prevent moderate memory loss! But if you think about it — this is not mind blowing information. Using your muscle, helps it stay in shape and gets it strong! No Brainer! Use it or Lose it — we all know that.

Computer use and exercise may help fight memory loss

Some previous studies have found a link between exercise and a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), while others have linked cognitively stimulating activities, such as reading books, playing games or using a computer, and a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment. But no studies have examined the combined effects of exercise and computer use.

Geda and his colleagues surveyed 926 people ages 70 to 93 living in Olmsted County, Minn. Participants were asked whether they had engaged in moderate physical activity, such as brisk walking, hiking, aerobics, strength training, yoga or weight lifting, in the past year, and how frequently they participated in the activities. They were also asked about the extent of their computer use.

Participants were examined by a physician to diagnose MCI. Of the 205 study participants who did not exercise and did not use a computer, 41 (20 percent) showed signs of MCI. Of the 314 who both exercised and used a computer, 20 (6 percent) showed signs of MCI, the study found. People who either used a computer or exercised experienced some protection against mild cognitive impairment, compared with people who did neither activity, but that finding could have been due to chance, the study said.

Exercise Is the Key: Use it or Lose It is a post from: Live Fit and Sore

I have spoken about this before — we all will not fit the mold of that supermodel. Be aware & sensitive to emotions and feelings that may go along with your words…

So, you say I “look big”? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

One of my CrossFit classmates told me that at a recent family party, one relative inquired if she was “putting on weight,” and another told her her arms looked “too big.” This reminded me of another girl I used to work out with. Her aunt had the audacity to call her fat, and one of her tennis opponents sized up her arms and asked if she was on steroids.

What the hell is wrong with people?

Both of the women I mentioned above are passionate about fitness, extremely dedicated to their training and hella strong in their own ways. They’re exactly the kind of gals you want in your class because their strength and intensity makes you step up your game.

But they’re human, so when they hear comments like that from clueless jerks who have no idea that they can backsquat a freaking car or deadlift twice their body weight or run circles around anyone and everyone in the gym, they feel bad. They get discouraged. They start doubting themselves and all the work they’ve put in to get stronger.

You Look Bulky and Other Annoying Opinions is a post from: Live Fit and Sore

Sounds like a fun event to help you get moving…

Nordstrom at Montgomery Mall is hosting a Ballet Bar class Saturday May 5 in the morning to help celebrate the second annual Zella Day of Movement event.

You’re invited! Join us for a day filled with high-energy workouts and serious fun across the country.

If you’re a fitness enthusiast and a lover of style, Zella’s the perfect fit. There’s no better time to amp up your routine and pick up a few of the newest Zella pieces. Plus, get a Zella fitness gift with your $40 Zella purchase.*

Zella Day of Movement Event at Montgomery Mall is a post from: Live Fit and Sore