Body composition describes the percentage of fat, bone and muscle in the body. What is considered a healthy body composition varies between males and females and different age groups. For example, healthy body fat ranges increase in older age groups. Do I need to know the breakdown of my muscle and fat? …
As we explained in the earlier blog ‘Weight Management Guide – Part 2’ in order to lose weight, we need to increase the amount of calories expended. This is influenced by exercise, dietary habits, gender, muscle mass and basal metabolic rate. In order to burn more fat, we need to burn more fuel. By…
Exercise in general has so many benefits for every single person. Today, we are going to talk about the benefits of exercise for older adults in particular. As we age, many chronic health conditions arise. The most common conditions include Cardiovascular disease, Cancers, Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Arthritis, Obesity, Parkinson’s disease, Dementia, and Depression. Exercise…
This week we discuss how small behaviour changes can have a big impact on your health and the importance of individualising weight management strategies. Focus on the process over the result… Weighing ourselves once per week gives us the opportunity to think about our behaviour over that week. For example, if the number…
Last week we looked at the effect of quantity and quality of food on weight management. This week we delve deeper into the macro and micro-nutrient composition of our intake and why balance is important in weight management. What are macro and micronutrients? Macro-nutrients are nutrients that are required in large amounts by the body. There are three…
Last week we learnt how to control calories out. This is done by increasing our Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) and exercising. Lean Body Mass (LBM), i.e more muscle, helps to increase our BMR which in turn helps us to burn more energy at rest and during activity. We also learnt that the average person requires 8700 kj…
Last week we learnt that using simple lifestyle interventions i.e regularly exercising and eating healthy helps to control our weight. The most interesting thing to note is having more muscle will burn more kilojoules and therefore resistance training is paramount. Following on, weight is accurate when you measure it 2 to 3 days post…
Weight management is an important consideration in the realm of health and fitness, and a distinction from thinking of embarking on a “weight loss” or “weight gain” goal achieved through strict dieting. Thinking of your weight as an ever changing measure that you have complete control of increasing or decreasing allows for the burden of…
What is Diabetes? Diabetes Mellitus refers to a number of chronic conditions that share the common feature of elevated blood glucose (sugar) levels (WHO Consultation, 1999). For the body to work properly it needs to convert glucose from food into energy. A hormone called insulin is essential for this conversion to take place. In people…
Flexibility is an important aspect of your overall health and fitness. Flexibility training should go hand in hand with your strength and aerobic training. What happens when I stretch? Stretching causes the muscle fibers and surrounding connective tissue to lengthen. The stretch reflex attempts to resist the change in muscle length by causing the stretched…
