Friday, November 7, 2014

The Positive Influence of Physical Training During Recovery, by Jennifer Elson



Substance abuse is a growing concern, with close to 24 million Americans misusing drugs each month. While drugs such as marijuana, crystal meth and heroin may come to mind when you think of substances that people are likely to become dependent on, this is only part of the issue as increasing numbers of people are becoming hooked on prescription drugs. Indeed, one-third of people who took drugs for the first time reported taking a prescribed product recreationally. Opiate based painkillers are among those most commonly abused, with increased demand for specialist opiate recovery programs. However, there is growing evidence that besides the traditional medical and psychological approach to drug treatment, exercise offers significant benefits during the recovery process.

Working out to achieve better mental health
One way in which getting active can help addicts is by promoting good mental wellness. It is acknowledged that poor mental health is a risk factor for taking prescription medications and illegal drugs. That’s not all though, as conditions such as depression and anxiety can also make it much harder for addicts to successfully quit. The ability of physically training to boost your mood and relieve anxiety is therefore beneficial for anyone in recovery who is already affected by these mental health problems, but how does working out improve your well-being?

Exercise is certainly a useful treatment for mild to moderate depression, though no particular form of training seems to offer benefits over another, so whether you prefer a gym session or fitness classes, either can potentially lift your spirits. This is partly thanks to the endorphins released when you work out. Endorphins are chemical messengers in your brain, which promote positive feelings and you can feel euphoric after intense exercise, which is what a “runner’s high” refers to. These aren’t the only mood-boosting chemicals released on activity, as you also produce more serotonin and dopamine. At the same time as these positive chemicals rise, those that induce stress, such as cortisol, fall, which helps you to relax. However, changes in your brain chemistry and your blood work only go some of the way to explaining the mental boost you get from exerting yourself.
For instance, exercise is a great distraction, helping you to forget your troubles. Even if this gives you just temporary relief from anxious thoughts, this is still a welcome opportunity for some respite. Another benefit is that when you set yourself achievable fitness goals and you meet them, this enhances your self-esteem, so you feel better about yourself. A further plus point for physical activity is that it promotes healthier sleep patterns, so you find it easier to drop off and are less inclined to wake up during the night. This is good news, as low mood and anxiety can stop you sleeping, but a lack of sleep can also make the conditions worse, so a vicious circle develops. Finally, when you join a fitness center, it is another opportunity to engage socially, which itself is known to improve the way you feel.

Fitness training as part of rehab
There is certainly evidence in relation to cocaine, amphetamine and crystal meth that regular exercise has a positive influence on drug taking. For instance, when someone works out experimentation is less likely to become a regular habit, you consume less overall, your habit is less likely to spiral out of control or lead to binges, and when it comes to getting clean you are at lower risk of a relapse. So how can physical training have such a positive influence on drug use?
Firstly, as already mentioned exercise helps to reduce depressive and anxious symptoms, with users often taking drugs to mask these or to offer a form of escape. The positive changes that occur in your brain when you work out can also trigger its reward center, resulting in feelings of pleasure similar to those that you might achieve from drug taking. In the same way that focusing on a training session can help to distract you from your problems, this additionally allows you to better cope with your cravings. Similarly, knowing that you have met your exercise goals gives you the confidence that you can achieve a life free from drugs, so spurs you on to do just that. Then if that isn’t enough, the chance to meet new people is helpful when you are trying to avoid old acquaintances that you associate with your previous habit.
Although making the gym a regular part of your week can potentially help you to overcome problems with substance abuse, you should always seek professional help if you are struggling to free yourself from the hold of drugs.

Jennifer Elson is a writer who contributes to a number of health and wellness sites on various topics. Prior to taking a career break to bring up her two children, she worked in the healthcare sector helping people achieve better diets and fitness.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Real Women Deadlift at City Fitness Gym - Just Ask Heide Herrmann!



I stand five foot three inches tall on a good day.  I am a 40-year-old woman who wears pink shirts and pigtails to the gym.  At first glance you might think I’m the kind of person who spends most of her workout time on the elliptical, with maybe a few triceps dips thrown in because someone told me that’s how you get "Michelle Obama arms."  You might assume that the weight room is foreign territory for me.  But you would be wrong.

So far, my heaviest deadlift is 230 lbs. I squat 185 lbs. for reps.  When I lift, I wear a heavy-duty belt around my waist and straps around my wrists.  Both are pink.  I’ve been an attorney for fifteen years, and I’m very proud of what I do for a living.  But I’ve never been more proud of anything than I am of the work I’m doing in the gym.  There is no rush like setting a new personal record, and then looking up to see that all the guys in the weight room were watching when I did it.  There is no better feeling than the soreness that comes from working my muscles to failure and then letting them rebuild themselves, bigger and stronger than before. 

And no, I am not “bulking up.”  That’s a myth that keeps countless women away from strength training, which is unfortunate, because we need it.  Over the last two years I’ve lost just over 50 lbs. I’ve gone down five dress sizes. I was curvy before and I always will be.  But they’re better curves now, trust me.

My newfound love of weightlifting began when I met Phil, my personal trainer at City Fitness.  I would never and could never push myself the way Phil pushes me.  I used to get frustrated when I had eked out what I thought was the last rep I could possibly manage, just to hear Phil tell me “only five more.”  Now I might laugh, or I might curse him under my breath, but I keep going, because I know he’s right – if Phil says I can do five more, I can do five more.  I’ve come to trust him implicitly, and he has convinced me that I am capable of performing feats I once thought impossible. 

So I’m going to stick with this.  This is not like the piano lessons when I was eight, the scarf I started knitting when I was ten and still haven’t finished, or the book I always say I’m going to write.  I already know I will never stop lifting.  It makes me happier, healthier, and more energetic than I’ve ever been, and now I can never go back.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Finding the Fountain of Youth...in the Potomac River, by Dega Schembri





Somehow I got it into my head that when I turned 60 I would do a triathlon.  But, then I had a minor health scare at age 57 and the perfect counter strike was to strengthen my lungs.   So I decided to take up swimming and what better motivator to learn how to swim than by signing up for a triathlon?  Don’t get me wrong; I was no stranger to the water having been raised in Detroit in the proximity of the Great Lakes. But swimming free style, breathing properly, and going for 750 meters (1/2 mile) in the open water was, in a word, frightening!  I couldn’t even swim 25 meters without stopping and that was in a pool. Open water would be even worse. So what was I thinking? 

For the sake of full disclosure I have been in the fitness business for 30 plus years steadily teaching aerobic and body sculpting classes and providing personal training sessions at the fitness facility in Washington, DC that I co-own, City Fitness Gym. I also do my own weight training workouts. While I am not a cyclist, a runner and clearly not a swimmer, I knew that I had the physical ability and endurance to do all three.  I would just be completely out of my comfort zone.  I decided that this would be a good thing. 

I believe that as we age, our fears often become bigger and we stick with what we know and take fewer risks. I also believe that when you stop exploring, stop trying new things, and stop pushing yourself beyond your own level of comfort, you accelerate the aging process. 

At age 57 I signed up for the 2009 New Jersey Sprint Triathlon and immediately enrolled in the DC Triathlon Club’s “New Triathlete Program” (NTP).  Their first training session began with a 5 K run and I was undoubtedly the oldest in the group.   I quickly discovered, though, that most everyone was nervous about the run, not everyone was a runner and “triathlete wannabes” came in all sizes and shapes. It was a hopeful start.

During the NTP program I participated in all the group workouts and clinics.  Not only did I stand out because of my age, I also had a bike that was not your state of the art “Tri-Bike”.  It was a bike that I was emotionally attached to, having been given to me by my staff when I turned 50.  With it’s purple flower decorations, I was constantly asked if THIS was the actual bike I was going to use in the NJ Triathlon, to which I would proudly reply, YES!


When the day finally arrived, I was a wreck.  A few weeks prior to the real event I participated in a practice triathlon sponsored by the DC Tri Club.  It’s called “practice” for a reason.   First, the swimming was done in a pool – a far cry from the open water of a lake – and though I completed the swim, I was the last one out of the pool. Next, I had to immediately hit the bathroom (nerves) before I could get on my bike, and to top it off I started my run with my bike helmet on. 

The memory of all of that forced me awake even earlier than I needed.  We arrived at the event at about 6 a.m. and as I waited for my group to get called into the water, a woman about my age standing next to me could feel my fear (and probably also see my entire body shaking). She told me not to worry and that once I got out of the water I would probably pass her up on the run. The open water is intimidating because as you follow the big orange buoys that help you keep track of where you are going, you have a pack of other folks swimming over you, doing the same thing.  Despite all my freestyle training, my swim on that day consisted of a combination of the backstroke, sidestroke, and breaststroke and sometimes the front crawl. But I made it out of the water, the endorphins kicked in, the hardest part was over and I was in competitive mode. 

When you participate in triathlon events, they make sure that your body is marked using a bold black marker to write your race number on your arm and your age on your calf. This mortified me until I passed someone younger than me and was elated that they could see my age. The encouraging woman that calmed me down at the beginning of the race was correct – I did pass her during the running segment.

I don’t think I will ever forget the feeling of crossing that finish line, especially with my son watching and cheering me on.  I did it!  I wanted to do more!  I was hooked.  And most importantly, from that day forward, I could say that I AM A TRIATHLETE!

Since my first triathlon, I spent a lot of time and money learning how to swim better.  I now enjoy the quiet, meditative, and rhythmic back-and-forth of swimming laps; my Zen of swimming.  I bike almost one hour to and from work whenever I can and get a short run in about once a week.  I even sign up for some 5K and 8K runs.

I have since participated in four more triathlons, three of which were on the Potomac River.  Of those five I have actually won my age division three times! Even though winning isn’t really my goal, getting up on the platform and being number ONE is quite the emotional boost! My goal is to do one triathlon a year.  I love the cross training aspect of triathlon training because it does not limit you to just one sport. Swimming has made my entire upper body noticeably more toned and the running and biking have strengthened my lower body.  I still participate in other types of fitness activities including Yoga and Pilates.

Today, I feel physically younger at 62 than I did at 52 and attribute it to my triathlon training.  Who would have thought that I would find the fountain of youth swimming the notoriously murky waters of the Potomac River?  So, don’t let your chronological age hold you back either mentally or physically.   I challenge you to TRY A TRI!  It only takes completing one to say “I AM A TRIATHLETE!”

Friday, January 10, 2014

Silver is the New Blonde, by Lucinda LaRee


I turned 50 this year, went through menopause, grew out my silver mane, became a grandmother and joined the Pole Pressure Dance Troupe.

The half-century mark snuck up on me. Busy raising my son, owning and operating my gym, and living my ups and downs, I woke up one day and realized I had gained 20 pounds in the last 7 years. ‘How did this happen?’ I asked myself. Being a lifetime fitness enthusiast and owner of a health and fitness business it seemed out of character to find myself overweight or should I say, ‘over FAT!’

Looking back I can see where it all started. When I turned 43, I was peri-menopausal.
Hot flashes, no sleep, and all I wanted to do was eat potato chips and drink beer. I was emotional and stressed out! I was going through a separation, my teenage son was acting out, and my life was not what I expected it be. I moved to the suburbs and added an hour-long commute to my already packed day that meant more sitting and more stress.

For years, clients and students have told me about getting stuck in ruts. I realized that was exactly what was happening to me – mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. It was time to re-center and use the Native American Medicine Wheel to change my life.

My intention for 2012-2013 or “The Rainbow Bridge” as Brooke Medicine Eagle, author of The Last Ghost Dance, calls it has been to focus on the Native American Medicine Wheel to balance my life. The Native American Medicine Wheel represents the horizon line and is divided into the four cardinal directions: North, East, South and West. It is then subdivided into four more directions: North/East, South/East, South/West and North/West. The center of the wheel represents the self and one’s connection to the sacred circle, or circle of life. In India this “sacred circle” is known as a Mandala.

Circles are found in nature as in the rings of a still lake when you drop a pebble into it, the rings of a tree trunk that tell its age, the movement of a hurricane or whirlpool, the shape of the Sun, moon and planets, and the cycles of time and seasons. My roots are not just silver – they are grounded in my Native American ancestry and my yoga practice. Both cultures emphasize balance and harmony, and influence my life.

In The Last Ghost Dance, Brooke encourages all of us women to take responsibility to heal Mother Earth. To heal the world we live in we need to first heal the body we live in. To do this we must take a good hard look at our lives, past and present, take steps to heal the wounds, and transform our inner landscape. We must let go of the people, things, and thoughts that weigh us down, be in the now and intentionally create a new vision for our life. Then we can move courageously forward.

One thing I discovered on my inner journey was remembering how much I loved music and dance. It was my love for Jane Fonda and Jazzercise when I was 16 that got me on my path to becoming a fitness professional. Through the years, movies and dance sparked my interest and my creativity. I read a book many years ago called the S Factor by Shelia Kelly named after the S-curvature of the female body. After reading this book I wanted to learn more about feminine erotic dance and pole fitness. During the first introductory class I was so amazed at the teacher and how she could move her body, defy gravity and how beautiful, powerful, strong and fit she was. I was intimidated, impressed and out of my league!  But I took a leap of faith and started Pole Dance Fitness at City Fitness, the gym I currently co-own in Washington, DC.

Many women my age ask why I pole dance, saying ‘nobody wants to see a 50-year old stripper!’  This comment makes me laugh – pole dancing classes have nothing to do with stripping. They are a celebration of feminine energy and power. It is difficult for women and men of all ages to break through the stereotype of a pole dancer. I tell them I love pole dance fitness because it combines everything I expect from a well-rounded workout.  I am empowered when I lift my bodyweight and execute a trick that requires all of my strength, endurance and flexibility.  I enjoy the creative expression of the feminine dance movements or making the S curve!  After every class I thank my amazing teacher Sarah for helping me bring my “Sexy” back.  Yes, it’s OK to be sexy at 50!  As I say, ‘Silver is the new blonde, fit is the new thin and strong is the new young!’  I have lost 12 of the 20 pounds gained, and put on some serious muscle weight and body confidence!  My body has never looked better!  Who can argue with that!

Washington, DC is the perfect example of a city full of women who end up embracing their masculine energy instead of their feminine, as that is what is often required to be taken seriously in the business and political world. They feel that they have to hide and play down their womanhood. It saddens me to see the average woman on the Metro or walking on the street stressed out, hunched over her smart phone looking like an old woman!

In the ‘70s, Gloria Steinem promised we could have it all. For me “all” means claiming all parts of being a woman: the six-figure salary, the six-pack abs and the S-curve of the female form. I want to own my own business, my home and most of all, I want to own my own body, my curves, my sexuality and my sensuality. I don’t think I need to be like a man to be a good woman.  I’m just a girl” as 40-something pop singer Gwen Stefani with her awesome six-pack abs sings, “I’ve had it up to Here!”

As I see it, 50 is the new 40. Jane Fonda became our workout guru when she was 40.  Gretta Pontarelli, a 60-year old pole dance competitor along with beautiful Cindy Joseph, the silver-haired super model who was discovered in her late 40s, can be our new role models along with the forever fit and amazing Jane. When I teach yoga classes at City Fitness I feel blessed to be surrounded by so many women over 50 who are smart, beautiful, strong, healthy, vibrant and socially aware. It’s not about hiding our age. It’s about being “Pro-age” as Cindy Joseph says, celebrating our wisdom and grace and making the most of our life. We, the Jane Fonda Generation!