Body Balance

Health explorer........ Body balance is a mixture of Pilates, Yoga and Thai Chi poses from beginner to intermediate level. This class will improve flexibility from the yoga poses, core strength and posture from Pilates and Thai Chi works on the principle that the body is a like a tree, arms are mobile like the branches in the wind, and the trunk of the body is strong which is good for all three of stability, balance and flexibility. Body balance is great for improving flexibility, lowering stress levels and improving body strength. The class lasts for one hour with the warm up phase of some Thai Chi exercises, then onto Yoga based exercises to work on flexibility, Pilates to work the abdomen area then finishes with a Thai Chi warm down followed by meditation. This class is great for people who want to improve mobility, reduce aches and pains, and get a good workout without leaving the class feeling exhausted or tired.

What did the Participants say.......  Michael Spensley “Flexibility and better posture are the benefits I’ve noticed”  A.C Swales “Absolute tranquillity after a good stretch and an aerobic workout in the gym”  John Stubberfield “ All round flexibility and muscle strengthening, all round exercise and suitability”

What does the instructor say....... Balance is a great class to work on mobility, when you have learned the routine you can work on towards the more advance poses to gain further benefits from the class.

The Science Behind Balance....... there are many physiological benefits to gain from the progressive stretching, which allow the muscles to become longer which improves flexibility and posture. Strengthening the core muscles will improve body posture, strength and improve muscle tone (through tiny muscle fibres breaking and repairing). The balance class works on lowering stress through exercise, lower stress ahs many benefits to improve overall health reducing blood pressure which is a cardiovascular risk factor. Lower stress levels mean lower Adrenaline and Cortical hormones being released, increased levels of these hormones are linked with the increased fat stores around the hip and stomach areas.

One last thing....... This class is great for people who struggle with intense exercise and is also great for people who exercise intensely and would like to reduce the onset of muscle soreness and stiffness. 

Active Metabolic Rate

Active metabolic rate

Healthy Explorer says...... Having an understanding of your Active Metabolic Rate (Energy used whilst moving), is key to maintaining a healthy weight, high energy levels and optimal physical performance. The “Harris Benedict formula” is a useful tool to estimate how many calories you need to support your energy needs for survival and physical activity.

Example........ If we continue with the example we used in my previous post.

().

Our Examples Basal Metabolic Rate is 13182 Kilo Calories. It’s very straight forward to calculate, all you have to do is multiply it by one of the 5 (bold text) following that applies to the individual’s physical activity levels.

1)    Sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2

2)    Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375

3)    If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55

4)    If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725

5)    If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

Say our example is exercising 4 times a week at moderate intensity, their Active Metabolic Rate Would Be.

13182×1.55= 20432.1 (Kilo Calories Per day)

Pros and Cons...... Of this method it’s hard to distinguish exactly what equates as light/moderate/high intensity of physical activity as a certain type of exercise maybe difficult for one person, but easy for some else. If you use running for example, a highly trained runner may find running 1 kilometre in 5 minutes relatively easy, however a sedentary person may find this exhausting. The trained runner may burn fewer calories due to being more efficient than the sedentary person (Exercise efficiency is something I will cover in later posts). The great thing about the “Harris Benedict formula” is that it’s a really easy way to estimate how much energy you need to consume as a guide to achieve your fitness goals.

A simple tip...... to lose weight aim to reduce your calorie intake by 500 Kilo Calories a day, if you need to gain weight increase by 500 Kilo Calories.

One last thing to remember...... is that the Active Metabolic Rate formula is just a guide, but certainly a helpful guide and I will cover  ways on how we can get a more accurate measure of activity levels.

Calculating Your Metabolic Rate

Calculating Your metabolic Rate

Learn how to maintain a healthy body weight by calculating how much energy your body burns.

Healthy Explorer...... has heard many people talking about their metabolism as a problem to lose weight. Metabolism to simply define is the amount of calories your body burns, there is basal metabolic rate which is the amount of calories your body uses to stay alive. Actual metabolic rate is very hard to calculate because people may lead very different lifestyle in terms of exercise, diet, stress levels and age play apart in how much energy your body uses.  Below is an example of how to calculate you basal metabolic rate.

Example....... A female who is aged 32, who is 132cm metres tall and weighs 60kg.

Formula-BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

BMR= 655 + (9.6×60kg=576) + (1.8× 132cm=237.6) - (4.7 × 32years=150.4) = 13182 Kilo calories.

Tips.... when calculating, work out the sums in the brackets first, I have included the formula for men, and in non metric measurements at the end of this article. Also the result you get is just the calories your burn at rest, does not take into account any physical activity you may do.

Pros and Con....... the downfall is that this is not personalised to an individual and to find out one for an individual is a difficult and an invasive method. The Pro is that it’s a close calculated estimate as the formula would have been developed from taken averages from a large group of people. It’s a great tool to determine how much food you should be eating, plus you can use it to either gain, maintain or lose weight. Which I will cover in future posts.

Thanks for reading

Have a go at calculating your BMR, let me know how you get one.

English BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years ) Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

Metric BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years ) Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )

Boot Camp Training

Healthy Explorer... Describes the boot camp class at Springfield Leisure Centre, (Corsham , Wiltshire, England) as a  “straight  in the deep end” style of fitness class, meaning it does not matter how fit or unfit  you are , you will be very tired at the end of the class. This class has a mixture of aerobic and resistance exercise working continuously for an hour with short breaks along the way. The types of exercise are set out by the class instructor and can be literally anything they chose. In the class we did a variety of body weight exercises such as Burpees , Press ups, and squats alternated with jumping jacks. This class can also be done with exercise equipment such as Dumbells, kettle bells, power bags and much more.

What did the class participants say......  Jane Whitfield   “Lost one stone (7kg) in weight , improved fitness and body tone, a variable class which is challenging and gets results”.  Simon Ratcliff “ General improvement of fitness after 5 sessions, good mixture of strength and aerobic training” Isabella Meadon  “ Increased level of overall fitness, able o participate in a wider range of exercise than I would do in my own training,  good group mix of old, young, male/female and fitness’ levels. Good motivation for the next class”.

What does the Instructor say..... Ben said that this is one of the most challenging classes that he teaches and is amazed by the hard work  put in by his participants. He is also glad with the results he class participants see from attending his boot camp class.

The Science behind the results...... this class has the mixture of aerobic and resistance exercise which is a great combination for toning muscles and burning body fat.  The resistance exercise causes the small muscle fibres to break, then over the next few days after the class the body repairs these muscle fibres and makes them stronger which increases the body toning affect. This process also causes the body to burn more calories as the body needs energy to carry out the repair work; this also increases the fat burning process in the body. The aerobic exercise in this class will help the body break down sugar and fat stores in the body to produce energy for the movement you do in the class.

One last thing.... This class is great for anyone who wants a hard workout, if you are not prepared to sweat, stay at home and keep you feet up.

More Photos of Boot camp Monday 10th September 2012