Tag: Fitness

Here is an article from The Salt Lake City Daily Herald. I am including it as it does show the way that METs which are a calculation of workout based on oxygen consumption.

Disheartened by a failed marriage and years of gain, Ellen Bowden decided to turn to a personal trainer to help reshape her body and lifestyle.

Since January, the 47-year-old Salt Lake City court mediator has lost 11 percent body fat, shed about 25 pounds, improved her diet, quit smoking and toned up under the guidance of Michael Streeter at the 24 Hour Fitness center in Sugar House.

Streeter designed an exercise program for Bowden using the Karvonen formula, which calculates a person’s target heart rate by a person’s age and pulse. Three or four days a week, Bowden hits her rate of 144 on the elliptical machine.

According to new research on women and fitness, she also should be able to reach about 8.5 METs — but that means little to her.

What are METs?

MET stands for metabolic equivalents. It is displayed on most elliptical trainers, treadmills, and other cardiovascular exercise machines, and is a measure of a capacity for exercise based on the level of oxygen a person is consuming. A Chicago study published in The New England Journal of Medicine earlier this month — which provides the first fitness guidelines based on research on women — used METS as its measure.

A Chicago study published in The New England Journal of Medicine earlier this month — which provides the first fitness guidelines based on research on women — used METS as its measure.

Cardiologist Martha Gulati and a team of researchers at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center studied nearly 6,000 women during 10 years beginning in 1992 to gather their data. Gulati said cardiologists have used MET levels as part of cardiac treadmill tests for years, and she believes METs will become mainstream.

“I don’t think it’s at all complicated,” she said. “A lot of people work out on the treadmill, and most of the cardio machines have on (them) how many METs you are going. It’s a question of understanding what that means.”

Moderate walking burns 3 to 6 METs per minute. According to Gulati’s research, a fit 40-year-old woman should be able to reach 9.5 METs while exercising, while an 80-year-old woman should be able to hit 5.

Experts Like Using METs to Rate Fitness

Frank Yanowitz, medical director of The Fitness Institute at LDS Hospital, said METs can help people understand how fit — or unfit — they are.

“Where METs are a little more useful is in the testing environment, when we’re trying to assess one’s fitness level on a treadmill,” he said. “If we can define a low-fit subgroup of people, that information is useful in motivating a person to start an exercise program, and it shows that they may be more prone to diseases.”

Bowden and Streeter are skeptical.

“When I first came in, if Michael had sat here and calculated my target MET level, I would have been completely overwhelmed,” Bowden said. “It would have been very discouraging.”

Streeter adds: “I’ve been doing this for four years, and I didn’t even know what a MET was. I don’t want to invest the time in learning about it because I know what works.”

Ashley Jensen, an aerobics instructor and personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness, agrees the MET standard is hard to convey to clients. They more easily understand heart rates and calories burned.

“If you’re talking about women, we are moms, we work and we are so busy we don’t have time for a confusing chart,” Jensen said.

Melissa Walred, manager of Ladies Workout Express in Sandy, pushes her clients to work out for at least 30 minutes at the highest exertion level they can handle.

“People like stuff simple,” she said. “We have a lot of clients with diabetes and high blood pressure, and they’re not interested in something so complicated.”

But Mike Young, the personal training director at XCel Spa and Fitness in Holladay, finds the MET system useful.

“For clients who want a high intensity workout, I will tell them they want to reach 10 to 12 METs,” he said. “It’s not that hard if you understand it, but most members and even a lot of trainers may not know about it.”

METs can be Very Visual

Working out on an elliptical trainer, Marci King could see that she was hitting 14.6 METs, well above her target fitness rate. The active 31-year-old was the rare exception, however, in understanding METs, which she learned about at the University of Utah while studying exercise and sports science.

“Sometimes it’s easier to gauge how hard you are working by looking at MET than heart rate,” she said. “And I think it’s good for interval training.”

Across the gym walking briskly on a treadmill, Stephanie Christian, 27, said she never looks at her MET level.

“I think most people look at minutes or calories burned,” she said. “I knew MET had something to do with oxygen, but I wasn’t sure what it meant.”

Carey Hamilton is a reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune. This story first appeared in the Tribune on Aug. 23, 2005.

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Your knees are the pivot point for any kind of exercise be it running, biking or just about any team sport as well. Being critical to exercise it is important to keep your knees strong. There are a few things that you can do to protect your knees and care for them so that you can avoid the debilitating knee surgeries that so many people in even their 30s and 40s need to get.

How knees are built

You knees are made up of cartilage at the join on both the top and bottom bones and ligaments and tendons around the sides and through the middle. Over time it is the cartlage that wears and sometimes chips off, I can tell this myself as sometimes I will get a bit of a locking in my knees for a few hours until the bits of cartilage floating around become unstuck in the joint.

How To Heal Knee injuries

heal knee injuries

First of all there is a difference between protecting your knees and how to heal knee injuries. As you no doubt have noticed your knees only going in one direction and either hyerextending (stretching to far) or having your knee go sideways can create an injury that will take anywhere from a few days to a few months to heal.

If you do have a basic injury to your knee it is incredibly important to heal knee injuries for as long as it takes. An injury that does not heal fully will be very susceptible to re injury afterwards as we have seen in many pro athletes.

If you injure you knee it will swell up very quickly as there is quite a bit of blood flow in your lower body so besides the obvious of going to the doctor to have you knee tested you also want to take down the swelling of your injured knee. Start to heal knee injuries with ice on your knee for a half hour once an hour so 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off for the first day. On the second day and after alternate heat and ice for 20 minutes each as often as you can.

The ice will keep the swelling down and the heat will help you speed up the healing. In this early healing time even though you may have a bit of strength in your knee always wrap your knee and be very careful not to push it at all you definitely do not want your knee to get hurt again this soon after.

Healing my Knee injuries

I had a lot of problems with my knees over the years especially my left knee because I always did come back too quickly from injury. Now my knees seem to be pretty good because my main lower body exercise is low impact. I bike as much as I can and this has strengthened all of the muscles around my knee so that I am now quite strong. One problem that still persists though is running, I can not seem to do any consistent running for more than a few weeks without my knees hurting and having to give it up.

Another thing that will help your knees is to not lock out your knee during workouts. When doing squats or leg presses it is important to not lock out your knees as this is another way that you can cause harm to your knee cartilage.

In the end it is very important to take care of your knees and heal knee injuries very carefully to be sure that they do not become chronic.

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Vitamins during pregnancy are very important. You must remember those pregnancy vitamins.

If you have ever attempted to go on any kind of diet that involved reading the information on the nutritional labels of your food you are all too familiar with the fact that those little words and symbols can start to look like Greek after a while. If you’re not a doctor or a nutritionist you probably have no idea of what Vitamin B or Folic Acid

If you’re not a doctor or a nutritionist you probably have no idea of what Vitamin B or Folic Acid are, much less why they’re important. The first step to conquering pregnancy nutrition is understanding what you’re eating, how much you should eat, why you’re eating it and how it’s going to help your baby.

Important Vitamins During Pregnancy

A quick note. In the following section you are going to see several mentions made about the negative consequences of overdosing on specific vitamins. You must understand that this overdose very rarely occurs because of the foods you eat. More often it is because mothers have chosen to consume extra pregnancy vitamins in an attempt to “help” their baby or they have forgotten to tell their physician about other vitamins and supplements they take on a regular basis.

More often it is because mothers have chosen to consume extra pregnancy vitamins in an attempt to “help” their baby or they have forgotten to tell their physician about other vitamins and supplements they take on a regular basis.

vitamins during pregnancy

Be sure when you go in for your prenatal appointments that your physician knows exactly what vitamins, medications and supplements (including herbal) you take, regardless of how insignificant you may believe them to be.

Vitamin A During Pregnancy

Vitamin A helps the development of baby’s bones and teeth, as well as their heart, ears, eyes and immune system (the body system that fights infection) so is an vitamins during pregnancy. Vitamin A deficiency has been associated with vision problems, which is why your mom always told you to eat your carrots when you were a kid! Getting enough Vitamin A during pregnancy will also help your body repair the damage caused by childbirth.

Vitamin A deficiency has been associated with vision problems, which is why your mom always told you to eat your carrots when you were a kid! Getting enough Vitamin A during pregnancy will also help your body repair the damage caused by childbirth.

Pregnant women should consume at least 770 micrograms (or 2565 IU, as it is labeled on nutritional labels) of Vitamin A per day, and that number almost doubles when nursing to 1300 micrograms (4,330 IU). Be aware, however, that overdosing on Vitamin A can cause birth defects and liver toxicity. Your maximum intake should be 3000

Be aware, however, that overdosing on Vitamin A can cause birth defects and liver toxicity. Your maximum intake should be 3000 mcg (10,000 IU) per day.

Vitamin A can be found in liver, carrots, sweet potatoes, kale spinach collard greens, cantaloupe, eggs, mangos and peas.

Vitamin B6 During Pregnancy

Also known as Pyridoxine, Vitamin B6 helps your baby’s brain and nervous system develop. It also helps Mom and baby develop new red blood cells. Oddly enough, B6 has been known to help alleviate morning sickness in some pregnant women.

Pregnant women should consume at least 1.9 mg of this pregnancy vitamin per day of Vitamin B6. That amount rises slightly when nursing to 2.0 mg per day.

Vitamin B6 can be found in fortified cereals, as well as bananas, baked potatoes, watermelon, chick peas and chicken breast.

Vitamin B12 During Pregnancy

Vitamin B12 works hand in hand with folic acid to help both Mom and baby produce healthy red blood cells, and it helps develop the fetal brain and nervous system.

The body stores years’ worth of B12 away, so unless you are a vegan or suffer from pernicious anemia the likelihood of a B12 deficiency is very slim.

Pregnant women should consume at least 2.6 mcg (104 IU) of B12per day, nursing mothers 2.8 mcg (112 IU).

Vitamin B12 can be found in red meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs and dairy foods. If you are a vegan you will be able to find B12 fortified tofu and soymilk. Other foods are fortified at the manufacturer’s discretion.

Vitamin C During Pregnancy

Vitamin C helps the body to absorb iron and build a healthy immune system in both mother and baby. It also holds the cells together, helping the body to build tissue. Since the Daily Recommended Allowance of Vitamin C is so easy to consume by eating the right foods supplementation is rarely needed.

Since the Daily Recommended Allowance of Vitamin C is so easy to consume by eating the right foods supplementation is rarely needed.

Pregnant women should consume at least 80-85 mg of Vitamin C per day, nursing mothers no less than 120 mg per day.

Vitamin C can be found in citrus fruits, raspberries, bell peppers, green beans, strawberries, papaya, potatoes, broccoli and tomatoes, as well as in many cough drops and other supplements.

Calcium During Pregnancy

Calcium builds your baby’s bones and helps its brain and heart to function. Calcium intake increases dramatically during pregnancy.

Women with calcium deficiency at any point in their lives are more likely to suffer from conditions such as osteoporosis which directly affect the bones so especially now this is one of the most vitamins during pregnancy.

Women with calcium deficiency at any point in their lives are more likely to suffer from conditions such as osteoporosis which directly affect the bones so especially now this is one of the most vitamins during pregnancy.

Pregnant women should consume at least 1200 mg of these pregnancy vitamins a day, nursing mothers 1000 mg per day.

Calcium can be found in dairy products, such as milk, cheese, yogurt and, to a lesser extent, ice cream, as well as fortified juices, butters and cereals, spinach, broccoli, okra, sweet potatoes, lentils, tofu, Chinese cabbage, kale and broccoli. It is also widely available in supplement form.

Vitamin D During Pregnancy

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, leading to healthy bones for both mother and baby.

Women who are pregnant or nursing should consume at least 2000 IU of Vitamin D per day. Since babies need more Vitamin D than adults babies that are only breastfeeding may need a Vitamin D supplement, so if your doctor recommends this don’t worry. You haven’t done anything wrong! Formula is fortified with Vitamin D, so if you are bottle feeding or supplementing with formula your baby is probably getting sufficient amounts of this vital nutrient.

You haven’t done anything wrong. Formula is fortified with Vitamin D, so if you are bottle feeding or supplementing with formula your baby is probably getting sufficient amounts of this vital nutrient.

Vitamin D is rarely found in sufficient amounts in ordinary foods. It can, however, be found in milk (most milk is fortified) as well as fortified cereals, eggs and fatty fish like salmon, catfish and mackerel. Vitamin D is also found in sunshine, so women and children found to have a mild Vitamin D deficiency may be told to spend more time in the sun.

Vitamin E During Pregnancy

Vitamin E helps baby’s body to form and use its muscles and red blood cells. Lack of Vitamin E during pregnancy has been associated with pre-eclampsia (a condition causing excessively high blood pressure and fluid retention) and low birth weight.

On the other hand, Vitamin E overdose has been tentatively associated with stillbirth in mothers who “self medicated” with supplements.

Pregnant women should consume at least 20 mg of Vitamin E per day but not more than 540 mg.

Vitamin E can be found in naturally in vegetable oil, wheat germ, nuts, spinach and fortified cereals as well as in supplemental form. Natural Vitamin E is better for your baby than synthetic, so be sure to eat lots of Vitamin E rich foods before you reach for your bottle of supplements.

Folic Acid During Pregnancy

Also known as Folate or Vitamin B9, Folic Acid is a vital part of your baby’s development. The body uses Folic Acid for the replication of DNA, cell growth and tissue formation.

A Folic Acid deficiency during pregnancy can lead to neural tube defects such as spina bifida (a condition in which the spinal cord does not form completely), anencephaly (underdevelopment of the brain) and encephalocele (a condition in which brain tissue protrudes out to the skin from an abnormal opening in the skull).

All of these conditions occur during the first 28 days of fetal development, usually before Mom even knows she’s pregnant, which is why it’s important for women who may become or are trying to become pregnant to consistently get enough Folic Acid in their diet.

Pregnant woman should consume at least 0.6-0.8 mg of Folic Acid per day as this is one of the most critical pregnancy vitamins that we currently know of.

Folic Acid can be found in oranges, orange juice, strawberries, leafy vegetables, spinach, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, pasta, beans, nuts and sunflower seeds, as well as in supplements and fortified cereals.

Iron During Pregnancy

Iron helps your body to form the extra blood that it’s going to need to keep you and baby healthy, as well as helping to form the placenta and develop the baby’s cells.

Women are rarely able to consume enough iron during their pregnancy through eating alone, so iron supplements along with prenatal vitamins are often prescribed.

Women who are pregnant should have at least 27 mg of iron per day, although the Center for Disease Control suggests that all women take a supplement containing at least 30 mg. The extra iron rarely causes side effects; however, overdosing on iron supplements can be very harmful for both you and your baby by causing iron build-up in the cells.

Iron can be found in red meat and poultry, which are your best choice, as well as legumes, vegetables, some grains and fortified cereals.

Niacin During Pregnancy

Also known as Vitamin B3, Niacin is responsible for providing energy for your baby to develop as well as building the placenta. It also helps keep Mom’s digestive system operating normally.

Pregnant women should have an intake of at least 18 mg of Niacin per day.

Niacin can be found in foods that are high in protein, such as eggs, meats, fish and peanuts, as well as whole grains, bread products, fortified cereals and milk.

Protein During Pregnancy

Protein is the building block of the body’s cells, and as such it is very important to the growth and development of every part of your baby’s body during pregnancy. This is especially important in the second and third trimester, when both Mom and baby are growing the fastest.

Pregnant and nursing women should consume at least 70g of protein per day, which is about 25g more than the average women needs before pregnancy.

Protein can be found naturally in beans, poultry, red meats, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk, cheese, tofu and yogurt. It is also available in supplements, fortified cereals and protein bars.

Riboflavin During Pregnancy

Also known as Vitamin B2, Riboflavin helps the body produce the energy it needs to develop your baby’s bones, muscles and nervous system. Women with Riboflavin deficiency may be at risk for preeclamsia, and when baby is delivered it will be prone to anemia, digestive problems, poor growth and a suppressed immune system, making it more vulnerable to infection.

Pregnant women should consume at least 1.4 mg of Riboflavin per day, nursing mothers 1.6 mg.

Riboflavin can be found in whole grains, dairy products, red meat, pork and poultry, fish, fortified cereals and eggs.

Thiamin During Pregnancy

Also known as Vitamin B1, thiamin helps develop your baby’s organs and central nervous system.

Pregnant women and nursing mothers should consume at least 1.4 mg of Thiamin a day. Nursing mothers who are Thiamin deficient are at risk for having babies with beriberi, a disease which may affect the baby’s cardiovascular system (lungs and heart) or the nervous system.

Thiamin can be found in whole grain foods, pork, fortified cereals, wheat germ and eggs.

Zinc During Pregnancy

Zinc is vital for the growth of your fetus because it aids in cell division, the primary process in the growth of baby’s tiny tissues and organs. It also helps Mom and baby to produce insulin and other enzymes and is a critically important vitamins during pregnancy.

Pregnant women should have an intake of at least 11-12 mg of Zinc per day.

Zinc can be found naturally in red meats, poultry, beans, nuts, grains, oysters and dairy products, as well as fortified cereals and supplements.

Bear in mind that the Recommended Daily Allowances are just that-recommended. None of those pregnancy vitamins  number has been formulated on a case-by-case basis, so if your doctor recommends something else for you listen to what they have to say. After all, they managed to run up that student loan somehow!

Please though look and read and make sure you get your fair share of these vitamins during pregnancy

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