Fitness Concepts LA

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:16:00 +0000

HELP Jasmin fight against HIV/AIDS - Donate $20 and get a 2010 Calendar!

My AIDS/Lifecycle Fundraiser - 2010 Calendar

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:51:00 +0000

Photos and Captions: Copyright 2010

I am so excited to announce that we are almost ready to print my 2010 Calendar, as my ALC 9 Fundraiser!!
This calendar contains double entendre captions and some provocative photos. The purpose is to promote riding safely, both in cycling and in sexual practices (to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS). To make your donations now, please click on the AIDS/Lifecycle logo. Please follow the Facebook link, then hit the photos tab, for more calendar images. Many thanks and sincere gratitude for your generosities! - Jasmin

HELP Jasmin fight against HIV/AIDS - Donate $20 and get a 2010 Calendar! on Facebook

HELP End the HIV/AIDS Pandemic

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:46:00 +0000

HELP Jasmin fight against HIV/AIDS - Donate $20 and get a 2010 Calendar! on Facebook

Physical Activity Is Natural Pain Reliever For Arthritis

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:02:00 +0000

I was just discussing this with one of my clients. She has expressed that she is in a much improved joint health. Now that she is more consistent with her training, she's become more injury resistant than when she was inactive. Well, here is a study that proves her experience.

Enjoy!

ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2008) — It may seem counterintuitive to exercise when suffering with joint pain, but physical activity is actually a natural pain reliever for most people suffering from arthritis. A recent study published in Arthritis Care and Research journal concluded that regular exercise, specifically the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program, is an effective course in significantly improving and managing arthritis pain. This is good news for the aging population of U.S. baby boomers who want to get back to basics with a natural remedy for pain. In fact, arthritis is projected to increase by 40 percent, affecting 67 million Americans, in the next two decades.

See also:

Health & Medicine

Reference

The in-depth study looked at the effectiveness of the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program, developed in 1987 to reduce pain and stiffness by keeping joints flexible and muscles strong. Key findings of the study include participants reporting a decrease in pain and fatigue, an increase in upper and lower extremity function, and an increase in strength after participating in the basic, eight-week exercise program. Also, participants who continued the exercise program independently, beyond eight weeks, sustained improvement in reduced stiffness.

“The study showed that the exercise program is suitable for every fitness level, even inactive older individuals,” said author of the study Leigh Callahan, Ph.D., Thurston Arthritis Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Many people believe the myth that exercise exacerbates their symptoms. The truth revealed in the study is that symptoms improved with exercise.”

Exercising for joint health is different than exercising for cardio health. People living with arthritis don’t have to sweat to achieve success. The basic eight-week Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program consists of low-impact routines with gentle range-of-motion movements that can be done while sitting or standing.

“Even minor lifestyle changes like taking a 10-minute walk three times a day can reduce the impact of arthritis on a person’s daily activities and help to prevent developing more painful arthritis,” explains Patience White, M.D., chief public health officer of the Arthritis Foundation. “Physical activity can actually reduce pain naturally and decrease dependence on pain medications.”

About the Study

The objective of the study was to evaluate the basic eight-week Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program for improvements in symptoms, functioning, level of physical activity and psychosocial outcomes. A total of 346 individuals with self-reported arthritis from 18 sites participated in a randomized controlled trial. The eight-week exercise program consisted of exercise twice weekly for one hour. The study participants had a mean age of 70 years (ranging from 32 to 94 years old), 90 percent were female, 75 percent were white and 60 percent had more than a high school degree.

Adapted from materials provided by Arthritis Foundation.

Top 8 Effects and Maladies Caused by Sleep Deprivation

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:15:00 +0000

In this entry, I would like to focus a little bit on proper rest and recovery but, I don't just mean from exercise training but also from life. Many of my clients are hardworking, self-employed, career-driven individuals. Because there are too many tasks that need to be handled on a daily basis, the hours of sleep needed are being compromised. Ask yourself, "Is it really worth it?" or do you need to start learning to establish boundaries to better focus on YOU. Here is an article that I want to share and hope that everyone will learn from.

By Hugo Rivera

Millions of Americans suffer from sleep deprivation. If you can lie down in the middle of the day and fall asleep within 10 minutes, then you too are sleep deprived. There are many reasons for this ranging from too much work to simply staying up watching TV. In this article we will explore what the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation are and the maladies that it can cause.

1. Impaired glucose tolerance.

Without sleep, the central nervous system becomes more active, something that inhibits the pancreas from producing adequate insulin, the hormone the body needs to digest glucose. "In healthy young men with no risk factor, in one week, we had them in a pre-diabetic state," says researcher Van Cauter when referring to a study that he conducted on the effects of sleep deprivation.

2. Possible link to obesity.

Growth hormone (GH) is secreted during the first round of deep sleep. As both men and women age, they naturally spend less time in deep sleep, which lowers GH secretion. Lack of sleep at a younger age, however, could drive down GH prematurely, accelerating as a result the fat-gaining process. In addition, there is also research that indicates a lowering of the hormone testosterone as well, something that would also make the gaining of fat and the loss of muscle and easy thing for the body to do.

3. Increased carbohydrate cravings.

This is due to the fact that sleep deprivation negatively affects the production of a hormone called Leptin. This hormone is responsible for telling the body when it is full. However, with decreased production of this hormone, your body will crave calories (especially in the forms of carbs) even though its requirements have been met. Not a good situation to be in for a dieter.

4. Weakened immune system.

Research indicates that sleep deprivation affects adversely the white blood cell count in humans as well as the body’s ability to fight infections.

5. Increased risk of getting breast cancer.

Richard Stevens, a cancer researcher at the University of Connecticut, has speculated that there might be a connection between breast cancer and hormone cycles disrupted by late-night light. Melatonin, primarily secreted at night, may trigger a reduction in the body's production of estrogen. But light interferes with melatonin release (since melatonin is secreted in response to a lack of light), allowing estrogen levels to rise. Too much estrogen is known to promote the growth of breast cancers.

6. Decreased alertness and ability to focus.

A recent study showed that people who were awake for up to 19 hours scored worse on performance tests and alertness scales than those with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent–legally drunk in some states. Also, this can lead to injury in the weight room since lack of alertness can cause you to neglect securing a machine correctly or even lose balance as you perform an exercise.

7. Hardening of the arteries.

Stress imposed on the body due to lack of sleep causes such a very sharp rise in cortisol levels. Such an imbalance can lead to hardening of the arteries, something that can cause a heart attack. In addition, we also know that very high cortisol levels lead to muscle loss, increased fat storage, loss of bone mass, cause depression, cause hypertension, cause insulin resistance (the cells in the body lose the ability to accept insulin), and lower growth hormone and testosterone production.

8. Depression and irritability.

Lack of sleep also causes depletion of neurotransmitters in the brain that are in charge of regulating mood. Because of this, sleep deprived people have a “shorter fuse” and also tend to get depressed more easily.

Shielding The Brain From Too Much Insulin Can Prolong Life

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:16:00 +0000

ScienceDaily (Jul. 20, 2007) — One route to a long and healthy life may be establishing the right balance in insulin signaling in the body and brain, according to new research from Children's Hospital Boston. The study, published in the July 20 issue of Science, not only reinforces the value of exercising and eating in moderation, but also helps explain a paradox in longevity research.

Insulin sends a vital signal in the body, telling cells to use sugar from the blood. When cells become less sensitive to insulin, which often happens as we age and gain weight, the body makes more insulin to compensate. For a long time, researchers thought that "more insulin signaling was good," says Morris White, PhD, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in Children's Division of Endocrinology, who led the new study. "But this insulin is also hammering the brain, and we now think that's probably a bad thing."

Recent studies in the worm C. elegans and in fruit flies have shown that reducing insulin signaling lengthens lifespan. But in mammals, reducing insulin signaling can lead to fatal diabetes. White suspected that the key to explaining this paradox -- and to maximizing both health and longevity -- is to reduce insulin signaling only in the brain.

To test this hypothesis, White's team measured longevity and other characteristics in three types of mice. One group had normal insulin signaling in their brains. The other two groups were genetically engineered to have reduced brain insulin signaling, having less of a protein called Irs2 that carries insulin's message inside cells.

As the mice aged and gained weight, their sensitivity to insulin decreased, and higher insulin levels began to bombard their brains. The mice with reduced brain insulin signaling lived 18 percent longer than the normal mice. They were more active in old age, retained youthful metabolic cycles (burning sugar by day and fat by night) and retained protective levels of anti-oxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, which protect against oxidative stress, or "biological rusting," in the brain and body.

In contrast, the mice with normal insulin signaling had become more sedentary, had lost the metabolic rhythms of youth and had reduced anti-oxidant enzymes, leaving them vulnerable to cellular damage. Such damage correlates with a host of age-related diseases such as atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and cancer, notes White.

White believes his findings suggest a new approach to preventing diseases that shorten lifespan. "If we could hit cancer and cardiovascular disease by attenuating how much insulin that gets to the brain, or the amount of insulin signaling that happens deep within the brain," he says, "that's going to be much easier than trying to cut every cancer out."

Drugs that regulate Irs2 signaling in the brain (but not elsewhere in the body) are one possible strategy, but no such drug has yet been found.

The easiest method, White says, is old-fashioned diet and exercise. Although obesity and sedentary lifestyles tune down the body's sensitivity to insulin, exercise tunes it back up. Furthermore, eating smaller meals keeps insulin low in the bloodstream, ensuring that less reaches the brain.

"This study gives a molecular explanation of why it's good to exercise and not eat too much," says White. "If we can put a sound scientific basis behind the idea that diet and exercise are good, maybe we'll convince some more people to do it."

The study also calls into question the long-term effects of insulin therapy for diabetes, White adds. "Too much insulin might be fine to keep glucose levels under control. But it's probably damaging your brain in the long run," he says. Better treatments for diabetes, he suggests, would concentrate on sensitizing the body's cells to low amounts of insulin.

The work was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Yamada Science Foundation.

Adapted from Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070719141139.htm

Basic Theories For Exercise

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 19:15:00 +0000

These are some things to share, to increase your knowledge and awareness about your body. To achieve maximum results and to move pain free, the provided theories are the key ingredients.
The link below is an article that defines pain and why it occurs. The article also offers a solution on how to manage pain during rehabilitation.

Please copy and paste. FYI this article is the same as the September 5 entry. I just want to emphasize its importance.
http://prdupl02.ynet.co.il/ForumFiles/8980632.pdf

Basic Theories ; To Keep in Mind During Exercise

SAID Principle – Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. Our body adapts and gets better at any activities or even inactivity we subject it to do. I.e. if we sit all day while at work, then go home and sit to watch TV, our body gets good at sitting. Likewise, if we only lift weights all the time, our body will not be prepared to run or swim all of a sudden. A sudden attempt to change activity may result in joint injury that may become chronic.

Proprioceptive Enhancement – provides muscular and joint by joint movement efficiency.

Proprioception - is 3D awareness of the body in time and space; neural map that Central Nervous System (CNS) carries in the body.

Proprioceptors

1. Mechanoreceptors – located in the muscles, tendons, inner ear and most heavily in the joints. It sends very fast neural signals or stimuli. Is the general awareness of the body’s position, location and orientation prior to, and/or during movements.

2. Nociceptors – pain stimuli or noxious stimuli; neural signals consists of both fast and slow. Note: not always perceived as pain but can be referred as any problem happening within the body, i.e., startle reflex.

Motor Learning Theory - cognitive phase of learning in which the focus is learning how the human body moves, as well as recognizing how movement habits can be changed; paying attention to the quality of your movement (Perfect Rep Principle)

Elements of Efficiency - to be able to apply the perfect rep principle, in every movement, the elements that a learner should focus on are the following;

a. Perfect Form – train in perfect form so that the body will learn to move perfectly. Refer to SAID Principle

b. Dynamic Postural Alignment – when in motion, always have neutral stance with a lengthened spine (almost always with the exception of picking up a ball or light load from the ground).

c. Synchronized Breathing – expand chest when letting air in and relax to let air out while moving.

d. Balanced Tension and Relaxation – maintain relaxation while in motion – is one of the best technique in movement precision.

Enemies of Efficiency

A. Startle Reflex – is a survival mechanism that occurs in the presence of immediate physical threat. (Forward head, slumped, round shoulders and tensed muscles).

B. Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA) – move it or lose it! When you fail to move a certain body part or joint – in which it was meant to move, the nervous system loses the conscious control thus detaching your joint self-awareness.

Any muscle attached to an immobile joint cannot function optimally!

Adapted from Z Health Manual written by Dr. Eric Cobb

Also, please be aware that there are five elements that defines FITNESS. In no particular order, the following are:

1. Nutrition
2. Cardiovascular Endurance
3. Strength
4. Flexibility
5. Balance/Stability

*Note*
All of the 5 elements should be practiced almost equally. If one or more of the elements are missing, unwanted problems may occur as quick as within 24 hours after activity or, progressively within a period of 10 years or more.

Exercise and Mind - Set

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 18:57:00 +0000

Here's an interesting study that may help motivate people that are trying to lose weight, or simply improve their lifestyle. In my experience working with clients, I have learned that being positive and staying focused about the purpose of what they are doing and why, significantly plays a factor in being successful about their goals. It is very important to have that clarity in mind, while doing the activities related towards the end result. This study proves my claim.

I just hope nobody starts using or thinking that this idea will also apply even when not doing activities at all. Though the thinking process of losing weight may have increased, yet no activities or nutrition control are being done, the goal will never be accomplished. This study is simply suggesting, to an already active person, to raise their level of consciousness when doing their activities or while exercising.

Mind-Set Matters: Exercise and the Placebo Effect

Alia J. Crum¹¹Harvard University and
Ellen J. Langer¹¹Harvard University

¹Harvard University

Address correspondence to Alia Crum or Ellen Langer, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 1330 William James Hall, 33 Kirkland St., Cambridge, MA 02138, e-mail: ajc@post.harvard.edu or langer@wjh.harvard.edu.

Abstract

ABSTRACT—In a study testing whether the relationship between exercise and health is moderated by one's mind-set, 84 female room attendants working in seven different hotels were measured on physiological health variables affected by exercise. Those in the informed condition were told that the work they do (cleaning hotel rooms) is good exercise and satisfies the Surgeon General's recommendations for an active lifestyle. Examples of how their work was exercise were provided. Subjects in the control group were not given this information. Although actual behavior did not change, 4 weeks after the intervention, the informed group perceived themselves to be getting significantly more exercise than before. As a result, compared with the control group, they showed a decrease in weight, blood pressure, body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass index. These results support the hypothesis that exercise affects health in part or in whole via the placebo effect.

A pain neuromatrix approach to patients with chronic pain

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:44:00 +0000

A very good read that supplements my belief in practicing Z Health.

Level 1

Level 2

A pain neuromatrix approach to patients with chronic pain

G. L. Moseley*,w
nDepartment of Physiotherapy, University of Queensland, Australia, wDepartment of Physiotherapy, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane, Australia

SUMMARY. This paper presents an approach to rehabilitation of pain patients. The fundamental principles of the approach are (i) pain is an output of the brain that is produced whenever the brain concludes that body tissue is in danger and action is required, and (ii) pain is a multisystem output that is produced when an individual-specific cortical pain neuromatrix is activated. When pain becomes chronic, the efficacy of the pain neuromatrix is strengthened via nociceptive and non-nociceptive mechanisms, which means that less input, both nociceptive and non-nociceptive, is required to produce pain. The clinical approach focuses on decreasing all inputs that imply that
body tissue is in danger and then on activating components of the pain neuromatrix without activating its output. Rehabilitation progresses to increase exposure to threatening input across sensory and non-sensory domains.

Here's the full article. Please copy and paste
http://prdupl02.ynet.co.il/ForumFiles/8980632.pdf

My AIDS Lifecycle Experience Days 1-3

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 04:24:00 +0000

AIDS/LifeCycle 6 raises a record $11 million to fight AIDS

A record 2,333 cyclists from 10 countries and 43 states rode exuberantly from the Cow Palace, as they began AIDS/LifeCycle, a 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The riders and nearly 450 "roadie" volunteers raised a record $11 million this year -- surpassing last year's total by nearly $3 million.

Read more about ALC's most successful year yet.

Day 1- June 3, from San Francisco to Santa Cruz was a 90 mile ride.
My team was "Water Stop." Our theme for the day....Pirates. We were done at 12 noon so we decided to check out Rest Stop 3 Team. There we took some more pictures.

Please click on the picture to enlarge

Day 2 - June 4, Santa Cruz to King City was a whopping 105 mile ride.... yikes! It was mostly flat and a lot of tailwinds.
The cyclists stopped in small towns and indulged on artichoke hearts.
Water Stop theme...cabana boys and girls. We were based at Mission Nuestra Senora De La Soledad. Here is where the cyclists took a moment to write their dedications.
Click on the picture to enlarge.

Day 3 - June 5, King City to Paso Robles....a 77 mile ride - which they actually considered a "short day." Mind you, they still had to tackle the "Quad Buster Hill."
Because it was a "short day," the water stop team was given a day off. Well not really. We still had to help the Bike Park crew and the Food Services crew. Oh yeah, it was also the night of "Roadie Fashion Show!" Our theme was "Gods and Goddesses of Hydration."

Well....that's what I have, so far. I'll be posting the rest of the 7 days later so check back for more......

Gain without Pain

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Tue, 15 May 2007 03:25:00 +0000

By Matt Fitzgerald

Her Sports + Fitness Magazine

February 28, 2007

As an athlete, you probably associate the word "inflammation" with the pain and swelling of a serious injury like an ankle sprain or tendonitis -- the kind that can keep you off your feet for days and wreck your training plan. But scientists have recently discovered that inflammation has a much more pervasive impact on athletes. We now know that every hard workout triggers an inflammation response affecting the muscles and joints.

Inflammation not only signals that your body is on the mend from a serious injury, but it's also the means by which your muscles get stronger in response to intense training. However, if you train too hard, too often, post-exercise inflammation may become chronic -- compromising your recovery from workouts, limiting your body's adaptations to training and increasing the likelihood of over-use injuries.

All of this reminds us that preparing for peak performance is about training smart -- pushing yourself to the edge while being careful not to fall off it. Understanding how to manage post-exercise inflammation can help you pull off this balancing act.

A double-edged sword

Inflammation is an immune system response to tissue damage. When an injury occurs, inflammation removes cellular debris from the site of damage and initiates repair. There are three phases of the inflammation response. First, blood accumulates at the site of damage, causing the classic symptoms of swelling, heat and stiffness.

Next, specialized white blood cells called neutrophils migrate to the injured area and absorb the debris of damaged cells. Finally, other cells known as macrophages accumulate to complete the clean-up process and stimulate tissue regeneration.

Inflammation cuts both ways, though. On the positive side, it heals an injury and also produces symptoms of pain and stiffness that discourage activity during the healing process. A much milder inflammation response occurs after normal workouts in which we don't suffer any serious injuries. Every workout causes microscopic damage to muscle fibers; the inflammation process repairs this damage during the following recovery period, which happens typically between two to 48 hours after a workout.

In addition to repairing muscle damage from exercise, inflammation promotes training adaptations such as cell proliferation -- an essential step in the development of bigger, stronger muscle fibers. Inflammation even makes you more resistant to muscle damage in the future (known as "the repeated bout effect").

Studies show that untrained individuals become more resistant to exercise-induced muscle damage after just a single workout. It appears that the inflammation response triggered by the first workout increases the activity of neutrophils in the next workout, protecting the muscle fibers from excessive damage.

Although inflammation repairs tissue damaged during exercise -- and here's the negative side -- it also results in further damage between workouts. It's believed that in the process of healing injured tissue, active neutrophils also release cell-damaging free radicals that produce secondary muscle damage. This is the source of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), when you feel sorer the morning after a hard workout than you do immediately afterward, and why you sometimes feel sorest two days after the workout or race.

DOMS can seriously compromise the quality of your training. For example, a recent Spanish university study found that DOMS reduced running efficiency in a group of runners by more than three percent (a significant amount considering that a lifetime of training may only increase running efficiency by 10 percent), primarily because they changed their form in an effort to reduce DOMS. These changes also placed unaccustomed stress on the joints, increasing injury risk.

When joint tissues suffer damage during exercise, they also undergo a subsequent inflammation response. If these tissues fail to regenerate fully between workouts, they may become chronically inflamed and/or degenerate to the point of serious injury. Overuse injuries that are all too familiar to athletes, such as runner's knee, develop in this manner.

If you train hard every day, the muscle and joint damage you experience may not heal adequately between workouts and the inflammation response may not fully resolve. If you keep on training too hard and resting too little, you may enter a cycle of persistent tissue trauma and chronic inflammation.

Some believe that chronic inflammation is the root cause of overtraining syndrome -- a serious condition characterized by persistent fatigue, poor performance, loss of motivation and other symptoms that affect some athletes.

Tame the flame

You can't eliminate post-workout inflammation. Even if you could, it would be a bad idea because it helps your muscles adapt to training, as long as it doesn't get out of control. To keep inflammation under control, do the following:

Obey the hard/easy rule

Hard workouts cause your muscles to adapt in ways that make them more resistant to exercise-induced inflammation. But they need a chance to adapt. If you train hard every workout with no recovery or rest days in between, your muscles won't get that chance. Follow a training schedule that alternates intense days with light or rest days so your body can respond to the stress of those harder workouts.

Prepare your muscles

Research has shown that athletes can increase their muscles' resistance to exercise-induced damage and inflammation by engaging in small amounts of high-intensity eccentric (pronounced ee-centric) muscle work.

An eccentric muscle contraction occurs when a muscle resists its own lengthening, like in the lowering phase of a biceps curl. Eccentric or lengthening contractions cause the most muscle damage, but in small doses they also do the most to toughen muscles against future damage.

Before you begin any period of intense training, inoculate your muscles against damage and inflammation by doing strength workouts emphasizing lengthening contractions. For sports that involve running, downhill sprints work well. Prepare your legs to better handle a period of hard run training by performing a few short, relaxed downhill sprints twice a week for two weeks.

Ramp up slowly

The amount of inflammation you experience after a workout is always proportionate to how much harder than normal that workout is. Of course, you won't improve your fitness level if you don't increase the intensity of your workouts. But you can minimize post-exercise inflammation and still gain fitness if you ramp up your training gradually, making each hard workout only slightly harder than the last.

When training for tough events such as triathlons and marathons, begin preparing many weeks in advance, so you don't have to rush yourself into shape. For example, allow at least 18 weeks to train for a marathon.

Get your omega-3s

Eating a diet rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids may reduce the amount of post-exercise inflammation you experience. These nutrients have a number of important biological functions that include the production of anti-inflammatory compounds called prostaglandins.

As you've probably heard many times, the human body is unable to produce the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, so you have to get them in your diet. Good sources include fatty fish such as salmon and tuna, flax seeds and flax oil, walnuts and soybean oil.

Eat for recovery

Consuming protein before and during exercise has been shown to reduce exercise-induced muscle damage, which in turn lowers post-exercise inflammation. For example, a James Madison University study published in the September 2006 Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that a protein-fortified sports drink was four times more effective in preventing muscle damage during exercise than a conventional sports drink.

Eating protein within the first two hours after a workout reduces post-exercise muscle damage caused in part by inflammation. Consume only the most easily digested forms of protein, such as a powdered whey protein drink, before and during exercise. After exercise, any healthy high-protein (10 to 15 grams) food will do. Fifteen grams is about the most an athlete can process after a workout.

Chocolate and Vanilla Protein Shake

Matt Fitzgerald is a runner, triathlete, coach and author of several books on fitness and nutrition, including Performance Nutrition for Runners (Rodale, 2005). He is also an International Society of Sports Nutrition-certified sports nutritionist.

Medical Qigong

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:24:00 +0000

For this past twenty-five years, the Chinese have been conducting western style medical experiments on Qigong. The results of these experiments are making their way to America as you read this.

In 1994, because western scientists, using high tech equipment, discovered the Chinese meridian system, the AMA came out and approved acupuncture as a legitimate therapy. Interestingly enough, if you were to ask an Oriental Medical Doctor how acupuncture works, he would probably have a good laugh. We Americans always want to know how something works. To the Chinese, the simple fact that it works is enough. As to its "how," they have little interest. In fact, I don't think anyone can tell you how it works. They can tell you only how to work it.

Here in the West, we seem to feel that disease begins with symptoms. Physicians will tell you that the disease process begins much earlier, at a cellular level, which is only logical. To the Chinese, disease begins with a disruption in energy flow (qi) through the meridian system. Qigong is designed to make that energy flow return to normal.

Qigong is thousands of years old and is the father of acupuncture. It is acupuncture without needles. Qigong masters are capable of some remarkable feats. Some can light fluorescent tubes with their bare hands, others can manipulate mass at a distance, while others have been able to kill cancer in laboratory experiments. Personally, as sort of a parlor trick, your author (a practitioner, but not yet a master) has demonstrated the ability to move people without touching them.

Scientific investigation has discovered four types of energy emitted from the hands of a Qigong master: infra-red, magnetic, electrical, and acoustical. The Infratronic CGM machine, said to be a Qigong acoustical energy emitter, came out in the early nineties and sells for around $500.

From Immune Perspectives, Spring, 1994, in an article entitled "Qigong And Cancer," by Dr. Feng Lida, one of China’s most famous cancer researchers, she tells of a study involving 123 patients with advanced cancer. Except for one group who practiced Qigong exercises for two hours daily, all the factors were the same: same food, same drugs, same nurses and doctors. At the end of three months, here were the results:

	Experimental Group	Control Group
Regain strength	81.7%	10%
Improved appetite	63%	10%
Free of diarrhea or irregular defecation.	33.3%	6%
Body weight increase more than 3 kg.	50.54%	13.3%
Body weight decrease more than 3 kg.	5.4%	30%
Phagocytic rate of macrophages.	Increased 12.31%	Decreased 7.87%

Additionally, Dr Lida states, "It has been observed that in the [experimental] group, the erythrocyte sedimentation of 23 [patients] and the hepatic [liver] function of 20 of the 93 patients returned to normal. . . . In the control group, there were only three patients with normalized erythrocyte sedimentation, and two patients with normalized hepatic function out of the 30 . . . cases."

Normalized erythrocyte sedimentation means that there is no sign of the inflammatory process in the body. The liver is one of the most important organs in battling cancer.

One important note about Qigong exercises, beyond the overall improvement in cancer patients performing them, is that there are no side effects whatsoever.

The experiment mentioned above involved patients performing Qigong exercises. Patients in China may also undergo Qigong therapy from a practitioner. In a booklet entitled Scientific Investigations into Chinese Qigong edited by Richard Lee [San Clemente: China Healthways Institute, 1992], we discovered some amazing results of studies involving Qigong masters performing their energy work on cancer patients.

According to Richard Lee, the results of one hour of Qigong can be seen under a microscope: the fibrous coating of cancer cells dwindles and tiny holes appear. In other words, tumors began to disintegrate.

Qigong has been used successfully for hundreds of years to shrink tumors, and western style studies coming out of China show us something we in the West have a great difficulty accepting. Can a person simply pass his/her hands over another to heal them? In a world where if you can’t count it it isn’t worth noting, we now have solid evidence of something that appears to be nothing, but certainly is something. It is powerful, healing, and absolutely enigmatic, for how does the energy know to attack only the cancer cells? Why are there no side effects? Why can't everyone do it? What is it that makes an individual a healer?

We're dealing with subtle energies: Energy medicine. Many feel it is the medicine of the future.

How To Beat Chemical Poisoning

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 01:16:00 +0000

Dragon Door - Agent Orange Survivor Reveals the Best Way to Beat Chemical Poisoning
Harvey Diamond's 10 Tips for Keeping Your Body at Maximum Health
Harvey Diamond
Best selling author Harvey Diamond served in Vietnam and is a survivor of exposure to the Agent Orange herbicide used to defoliate the jungles of Southeast Asia.
When diagnosed with a condition with no known cure that destroys the muscles of the body, he, like many of his buddies, was told to prepare to die.
Now thirty years later, one of the few remaining survivors with this debilitating condition, he credits his survival to his maintaining a healthy and fluid lymph system.
Years of research forms the basis for his current international best selling book, The Fit for Life Solution, How to Identify and Successfully Eradicate The Cause of Pain, Fatigue and Disease - NOW!

"A poorly functioning immune system that can't fend off toxins is guaranteed to cause disease", says Harvey Diamond, author of the acclaimed Fit For Life book series. "Only a strong healthy immune system will keep toxins from lodging in your body."

"Keep it clean and moving and the toxins don't have a chance to sink in, take hold, destroy your body and cause disease", says Diamond.
Here are Harvey Diamond's "10 Tips for Keeping Your Body at Maximum Health".

Eat living foods as much and as often as you can.
You are a living body, so feed that body living food. Eat lots of fresh and cooked vegetables, raw or slightly cooked, and fresh fruit. Plants are filled with the nutrients, compounds and substances that promote life, something canned and frozen foods tend to lack. These essential materials allow the immune system to strengthen itself and work more effectively and more efficiently. Eat organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible to avoid pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and chemical fertilizers. Many of these residual chemicals are toxic or can't be digested, broken down or flushed out of your body. Pesticides and many chemicals bio-accumulate in the cells or bones in your body and eventually may trigger cancers or other toxic chemical disease reactions.
Eat fruit correctly - alone - or before anything else.
Fruit is to be eaten alone. Alone fruit turns into energy faster than any other food because it is the only food that does not require digestive energy. It should be eaten before other anything else. It should not be eaten with anything else, or after a meal. When eaten alone fruit tends to be alkaline when it enters you stomach. However, when fruit is combined with wheat, meat, dairy or vegetables it turns to acid in your stomach. As a result, it doesn't get digested and instead ferments producing alcohol, which in turn promotes a build up of toxins over time, and is one of the primary causes of diseases such as cancer.
Eat more salads.
Salads are living foods. Every time there is a great discovery of a compound that helps cancer or other human maladies, it comes from the plant kingdom. You'll never find an amazing discovery that has been isolated in a pork chop.
Reduce animal products in your diet.
Scientific evidence abounds showing that animal products, especially meats and poultry raised in feedlots with antibiotics and artificial hormones, are associated with more and more diseases. The human lymph system is not designed to break these artificial materials down so they can be washed away. They tend to remain and build up in our bodies, creating stockpiles of toxic chemicals that eventually can overwhelm the body's immune system.
Reduce or even eliminate dairy products from your diet.
Dairy products are a real health hazard to many people. They contain no useful fiber or complex carbohydrates and are laden with saturated fat and cholesterol. Milk is often contaminated from pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics. Dairy products are known to be a major cause of allergies, constipation, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Many doctors including the late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America's leading authority on child care, have spoken out against feeding cow's milk to children. Doctors have shown it causes anemia, allergies, and insulin-dependent diabetes. More and more studies are showing that dairy products may actually cause osteoporosis, not help prevent it, since their high-protein content leaches calcium from the body. Dairy products create an immense amount of mucus in your body and your lymph system has to work overtime to rid the body of this unnatural product.
Eat light in the morning, preferably fruit or vegetables or juices. Go light at lunch. Lay off the heavy sweets in mid-afternoon. Don't eat heavy just before you go to sleep.
Digestion requires more energy than any other function of the body, which is why you feel tired after eating, and why you rush to the coffee machine to perk you up. Eat a light breakfast. Leave about three hours without eating before you go to sleep. The body needs to rest, not work on digesting food that saps energy for healing.
Drink lots of pure water every day.
The living body is about 70% water and through natural daily movement and evaporation your body loses 2 quarts of water a day. You need to replenish water because your body does not manufacture it on its own. Drink a minimum of eight, eight ounce glasses a day to replace the 2 quarts of water your body loses. The medical benefits of water are many - there are more medical miracles associated with water than any other substance known to mankind. It is the single most important food you can ingest and is known to help treat and even cure heartburn, backache, headache, upset stomach, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. If you have any of these diseases, you may just be suffering from dehydration, along with 75 percent of the rest of the population.
Exercise daily. Exercise more and more every day till you change your lifestyle.
You can improve how you look, how you feel, and how much you enjoy every day. You'll get more energy from increasing how much you exercise even if you just start with a twenty minute walk every day. Physical activity is essential to get you heart pumping blood moving through your system to bring oxygen to your brain and flush toxins from your body. Movement and activity cleanses the lymph system. Find something fun and do it regularly. Get energized and spice up your life.
Take fewer prescription drugs.
Medications are only necessary when you are sick. The rest of the time medications can compromise your physical and mental fitness. Drugs and medications may also interact with each other and produce negative side effects. The body can't break down many drugs easily. Like pesticides and hormones they build up in the muscle, bones, skin and cells of your body and interfere with normal body function. Study what you are taking and search out natural alternatives, and make the switch. Find an herbal food consultant or find a dietitian or nutritionist to help you.
Think positive thoughts. Find the rainbow in everything.
You attitude is the most important factor that will influence what happens to you in your life. Develop and keep a positive attitude about everything. Be grateful for everything, for everyone and for every moment of your life. Wake up and start each day by repeating positive thoughts out loud fifty times! Watch what happens then! Ask who can I bestow love upon rather than who loves me or worse, who is out to get me today. Ask what can I do to make someone happy rather than why should I be happy today, or worse, who's going to yell at me and make my day miserable. Look for find and focus on the good things around you. Choose to spend your time thinking about the good things you find. See your life as a glass half full, rather than one half empty. You attitude will make the difference in your life.

These are just a few of the phenomenal ideas and strategies you'll find in Harvey Diamond's book The Fit for Life Solution, How to Identify and Successfully Eradicate The Cause of Pain, Fatigue and Disease --- NOW!
The Fit for Life Solution, How to Identify and Successfully Eradicate The Cause of Pain, Fatigue and Disease - NOW! is available at bookstores nationwide, and online from Dragon Door Publications, Web: www.dragondoor.com To order direct call: 1-800-899-5111 Email: support@dragondoor.com

Harvey Diamond's Feeling Fit Supplements are also available
Feeling Fit Colostrum

Save on Beauty Products

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:52:00 +0000

April Internet Specials, save 20%!

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Fitness Concepts Promotional Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 03:17:00 +0000

Get Ready for The Summer & Beach Season!

Summer is right around the corner! Look your best by starting an early fitness program!

Fitness Concepts now offering a
Promotional Sale package of

10 Training Sessions
+
1 Free Movement & Postural Analysis for only $500

Offer is valid for May and June only.

Use your 10 sessions before October 2010.

Take advantage of this offer now!
Call (310) 866-3475
Tell a friend and get another free training session when they sign up.
This offer is for new and returning clients only. Current clients will get a free training session when a referred friend purchase the Fitness Concepts Promotional Sale. Training venue is at Evolution 180: 12811 Coral Tree Pl, Los Angeles, Ca.

On Sale Products by Perform Better!

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:15:00 +0000

Sale ends through March!

Gymnic Stability Balls Now on Sale for only $11.95. Extremely Strong and able to hold up to 900 lbs.
I like to recommend this product to my clients because it's durable. Use it to stretch your chest, back, neck, or legs after a long, hard day at work. This is an ideal exercise equipment for home use. It also comes with a poster of suggested exercises. Buy it Now!
Click on the image to purchase.

First Place Core Medicine Ball Now on Sale for $38.95
Prices Range From $30.95 - $58.95

I like to use this medicine ball because of its grip/handles. You don't have to worry about the grip becoming slippery as it wears down. This medicine ball goes along well with the Gymnic Stability ball to create a complete, full body workout program. Use it at home, at the park, the beach or anywhere you like to exercise.

Have fun working out!

Broccoli and Cranberry Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 02:08:00 +0000

During my busy days, I try to make food that are quick, healthy and can last up to 3 days. When I only have a few time to spare, I don't like to spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen making food. So I make food in more than 3 servings.
This recipe is healthy, tasty and it takes no more than 20 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients

1 bag of 12 oz. broccoli florets
1/2 cup of orange flavored cranberries
1 cup of shredded carrots
6 oz. 98% fat free Canadian style bacon
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
Trader Joe's (TJ's) 21 Seasoning salute - to taste
Purple cabbage for garnishing (optional)

Method

Dressing
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil and rice vinegar. Add the TJ's 21 seasoning salute - to taste. Mix well with a spoon or a small whisk. Set aside.

In the meantime, cut the broccoli florets into smaller pieces, and the Canadian Bacon in cubes.
In a large bowl, mix the broccoli florets, shredded carrots, cranberries and Canadian bacon.
Pour the dressing into the bowl of vegetables and mix well with a spoon. It is now ready to serve. Serves 5-6.

Enjoy!

The Weight Loss Challenge / Supplemental Income

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 20:08:00 +0000

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EZ exercises

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 22:43:00 +0000

I've decided to name the exercise program that combines "E" cises and Z Health exercises. I will call it EZ exercises. In fact, one of my clients, Linda is doing the EZ exercise program. Before she started the EZ program, her pain level (1 being least painful - 10 most painful) was 9 at its worst. Now she is at pain level 3. Very exciting!
I am having very mild thoughts of using Linda as a subject, for EZ exercise program case study, in the future. But first and foremost, I must look into getting an Egoscue Method certification and continue climbing up the Z Health certification levels. I will be taking the Level 2 certification in July @ Arizona. I can't wait! Here's to a wonderful beginning of EZ program. Cheers!

Coincidence?

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 22:45:00 +0000

So after observing the Egoscue Method last week, this Wednesday Feb 28, I thought I'd include some of Egoscue's "E-cises" in my workout. My exercise structure was, 1st the Z Neural warm up, 2nd the dynamic stretches, 3rd the shoulder e-cises, 4th strengthening and core workouts/circuit training (which includes short bouts of cardiovascular endurance), 5th finish off with specific Z exercises. I felt like a new woman after 2 hours of workout! Very nice.

On that same day, I decided that it would be brilliant to combine Z and E-cises in some of my client's program. Z for increased joint mobility, where it is needed and E-cises for muscular stabilization.
Coincidentally, my friend Eric, gave me the article Joint by Joint Approach to Training, the next day - Thursday. I took it as a good sign and a blessing to go right along with the idea. I hope that you have time to read the next entry, Future Fitness Trend, because it contains a very good article.

Future Fitness Trend

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 22:09:00 +0000

I am very happy that a fellow trainer and friend, Eric, gave me this article! This is such a good affirmation that Fitness Concepts is moving in the right direction of future fitness trend. You see, I have been a Z Health Level 1 trainer since July of 2006. If you are not familiar what Z Health is...it is about Dynamic Joint Mobility exercises that promotes proprioceptive enhancement, pain relief, postural improvement, increased performance, strength, power, and flexibility, just to name a few.

I have been incorporating Z Health in my training sessions because I have a had a very high rate of success in using its methodology. If a new client complains of any joint pain, the problem can be addressed right away and get them moving in the same training session. Of course assessment of their gait and movement dysfunctions are necessary, to see what joints are moving, or not moving, in relation to their whole body. Granted certain body parts should be mobile and other ones stable, as Mike Boyle stated.

For the most part, I've found that the major culprits in peripheral joint pains are either, if not all, locked SI joint, T-spine and C-spine. Likewise, low back pain, neck and shoulder pains are results of limited ROM of, wrist and elbow joints or ankle and knee joints - sometimes all of the above.

So this proves to me that Z Health's training and treatment philosophy of "All The Body All The Time," is right on the money. Hence it is becoming more and more apparent that training with non functional, muscle isolation should be completely discarded.

Thank you for putting out this article!

Happy reading.

Joint by Joint Approach to Training

By Mike Boyle

Featured in www.PTonthenet.com

Mike Boyle - All Books, Videos, DVD's

“We get old too soon and smart too late." - Swedish Proverb

My good friend, physical therapist Gray Cook, has a gift for simplifying complex topics. I envy his ability to succinctly take a complicated thought process and make the idea appear simple. In a recent conversation about the effect of training on the body, Cook produced one of the most lucid thought processes I have ever heard.

Gray and I were discussing the findings of the Functional Movement Screen, the needs of the different joints of the body and how the function of the joints relates to training. One of the beauties of the Functional Movement Screen is that the screen allows us to distinguish between issues of stability and those of mobility. Cook’s thoughts were simple and led me to realize that the future of training may be a joint-by-joint approach rather than a movement-based approach.

Gray Cook Band

Gray’s analysis of the body was a straightforward one. In his mind, the body is a just a stack of joints. Each joint or series of joints has a specific function and is prone to specific, predictable levels of dysfunction. As a result, each joint has specific training needs. The following table looks at the body on a joint-by-joint basis from the bottom up:

Joint Primary Training Needs
Ankle mobility (particularly sagittal)
Knee stability
Hip mobility (multi-planar)
Lumbar Spine stability
T-Spine mobility
Gleno-humeral stability

The first thing you should notice as you read the above table is that the joints simply alternate mobility and stability. The ankle needs increased mobility, and the knee needs increased stability. As we move up the body, it becomes apparent that the hip needs mobility. And so the process goes up the chain: a simple, alternating series of joints.

Over the past 20 years, we have progressed from the moronic approach of training by body part (sorry, bodybuilders) to a more intelligent approach of training by movement pattern. In fact, the phrase “movements, not muscles” has almost become an overused one, and frankly, that is progress. I think most good coaches and trainers have given up on the old chest-shoulder-triceps thought process and moved forward to a push-pull-hip extend-knee extend thought process.

Interestingly enough, I now believe the “movement, not muscles” process probably should have gone a step further. I think injuries relate closely to proper joint function or more appropriately to joint dysfunction. Confused? Let me try to explain. Problems at one joint usually show up as pain in the joint above or below.

The simplest illustration is in the lower back. It seems obvious based on the advances of the past decade that we need core stability. It's also obvious that lots of people suffer from back pain. The interesting part lies in the theory behind low back pain. My theory of the cause? Loss of hip mobility. Loss of function in the joint below (in the case of the lumbar spine, the hip) seems to affect the joint or joints above (lumbar spine). In other words, if the hip can’t move, the lumbar spine will. The problem is that the hip is built for mobility and the lumbar spine for stability. When the supposedly mobile joint becomes immobile, the stable joint is forced to move as compensation, becoming less stable and subsequently painful.

The process is simple:

Lose ankle mobility, get knee pain.
Lose hip mobility, get low back pain.
Lose thoracic mobility, get neck and shoulder pain (or low back pain).

Looking at the body on a joint-by-joint basis beginning with the ankle, this thought process seems to make sense. An immobile ankle causes the stress of landing to be transferred to the joint above: the knee. In fact, I think there is a direct correlation between the stiffness of the basketball shoe and the amount of taping and bracing that correlates with the high incidence of patella-femoral syndromes in basketball players. Our desire to protect the unstable ankle comes with a high cost. We have found that many of our athletes with knee pain have corresponding ankle mobility issues. Many times, this follows an ankle sprain and subsequent bracing and taping.

The exception to the rule seems to be at the hip. The hip can be both immobile and unstable, resulting in knee pain from the instability (a weak hip will allow internal rotation and adduction of the femur) or back pain from the immobility. How a joint can be both immobile and unstable is the interesting question.

It seems that weakness of the hip in either flexion or extension causes compensatory action at the lumbar spine, while the weakness in abduction (or more accurately, prevention of adduction) causes stress at the knee. Poor psoas and iliacus strength and/or activation will cause patterns of lumbar flexion as a substitute for hip flexion. Poor strength and/or activation of the glutes will cause a compensatory extension pattern of the lumbar spine that attempts to replace the motion of hip extension.

Interestingly enough, this fuels a vicious cycle. As the spine moves to compensate for the lack of strength and mobility of the hip, the hip loses mobility. It appears that lack of strength at the hip leads to immobility, and immobility in turn leads to compensatory motion at the spine. The end result is a kind of conundrum: a joint that needs both strength and mobility in multiple planes.

The lumbar spine is even more interesting. This is clearly a series of joints in need of stability, as evidenced by all the work in the area of core stability. Strangely enough, the biggest mistake I believe we have made in training over the last 10 years is engaging in an active attempt to increase the static and active ROM of an area that obviously craves stability. I believe that most if not all of the many rotary exercises done for the lumbar spine were misdirected. Both Sahrmann in Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes and Porterfield and DeRosa in Mechanical Low Back Pain: Perspectives in Functional Anatomy indicate that attempting to increase lumbar spine ROM is not recommended and potentially dangerous. (Is rotation even a good idea?) I believe our lack of understanding of thoracic mobility has caused us to try to gain lumbar rotary ROM, and this is a huge mistake.

The thoracic spine is the area about which we seem to know the least. Many physical therapists seem to recommend increasing thoracic mobility, though few seem to have exercises designed specifically for thoracic mobility. The approach seems to be “we know you need it, but we’re not sure how to get it.” I think over the next few years, we will see an increase in exercises designed to increase thoracic mobility. Interestingly enough, in Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes, physical therapist Shirley Sahrmann advocated the development of thoracic mobility and the limitation of lumbar mobility.

The gleno-humeral joint is similar to the hip. The gleno-humeral joint is designed for mobility and therefore needs to be trained for stability. I think the need for stability in the gleno-humeral joint presents a great case for exercises like stability ball and BOSU push ups as well as unilateral dumbbell work.

The inability of joints to function normally places stress on the joints above or below. In the book Ultra Prevention (actually a nutrition book), the authors describe our current method of reaction to injury perfectly. Their analogy is simple: our response to injury is like hearing the smoke detector go off and running to pull out the battery. The pain, like the sound, is a warning of some other problem. Icing a sore knee without examining the ankle or hip is like pulling the battery out of the smoke detector.

What we need to realize is that, as the opening quote says, “we get old too soon and smart too late.” Every day, I learn more and more about the body. What I learn allows me to be a better coach and a better educator. Often, what I learn contradicts what I formerly believed. Just remember, the world was once thought to be flat.

The Egoscue Method vs. Z Health

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:37:00 +0000

Today I had a chance to witness the assessment protocol of "The Egoscue Method." One of my clients, was very kind enough to invite me into her appointment with an Egoscue practitioner and I am very thankful for Linda's contribution in helping me expand my skill set. For those of you that are not familiar what the Egoscue Method is...it's a functional exercise approach of treating pain, postural correction and performance enhancement. Which is of course, right around the alley of what Z Health is about (Dynamic Joint Mobility). If you know me, you would know that I am passionate about helping people move and function efficiently - without pain - in their daily activities.
The obvious similarities between Z Health and Egoscue methods are; 1) the postural and gait analysis (movement analysis of your walk); 2) the ultimate goal of pain relief, postural improvement and increased performance; 3) both are a "Do It Yourself" tools to treat your aches and pains; 4) the exercises are simple; 5) where it hurts may not necessarily be the problem, it's the "all the body all the time" theory.
The differences are in the type of exercises and the system. While the Z Health focuses on short repetitions of dynamic joint movements that targets the nervous system, Egoscue does many repetitions of exercises - and some that are static, which appears to target the musculoskeletal system. Now, here's the clincher....the results in the movement changes and pain reduction are faster with Z Health because the nervous system reacts faster than the skeletal muscles. To give you an example, this Tuesday, Feb. 20, I helped Ray, a 65 year old man that was presenting with right hip pain. After analyzing his walk, I decided to give him an ankle and foot mobility exercises. Ray immediately got a pain relief and there was a dramatic change in his hip movement. It took me 20 minutes and 2 exercises. Today, I sat and observed Linda do her exercises for 1.5 hour before she got a pain relief and a change in her hip movement.
Though The Egoscue Method took longer and consisted of many exercises before seeing a result, I am still curious and would consider learning the techniques. Why? Because while Z Health may have worked easily for Ray, it may not work as well with Linda. Clearly, Linda had better pain relief with The Egoscue Method rather than the Z Health exercises I've given her. But that can be easily justified that I am only a Level 1 Z Health practitioner and I have 3 more levels to go.
Nevertheless, I would still like to add The Egoscue Method in my toolbox.

AIDS/LifeCycle Roadie

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:27:00 +0000

Hah...I am very excited to be one of the "Roadies" for the June 3rd bike ride! This will be my first year and I am really afraid to use the porta pottie for a whole week. But aside from that minor problem, I am so much looking forward to meet new people that are active and doing a good cause.
My goals for this event are: 1) To raise $1500 that will help to continue the fight against AIDS; 2) To learn more about movement analysis so that I can strengthen my assessment skills; 3) To make new friends; 4) To expand recognition of Fitness Concepts; and lastly 5) To gain a lasting experience.
I am certainly hoping that my family, friends and clients will support me and help me raise $1500!
Would you, please? If you want to help me, here's the link for donations,

Jasmin's AIDS/LifeCycle Homepage or click on the link AIDS/LifeCycle, located on the side bar. I would very much appreciate your kind soul.

Thank You Very Much

Welcome to the Fitness Concepts LA Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Jasmin) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 22:56:00 +0000

This is a test post.

-Fitness Concepts LA Web Staff