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The common causes of muscle pain and how to avoid them in your exercise regimee

A couple of weeks ago, the guys at Bodytonic clinic contacted me because they wanted to expand their health and fitness related blog content. 

Specialist Osteopathy, Pilates, Massage, Health, Beauty and Fitness clinics based in the heart of London, Canada Water SE16, Wapping E1W & Stratford E15 (E20, Zone 2).

They are very nice guys and great professionals, if you have the opportunity because you live near or you travel to London, I recommend that you pay them a visit and enjoy their facilities and services.

For this occasion, they’ve put together an infographic about the common causes of muscle aches and pains in your fitness regime, specifically those which come about as a result of a poorly planned fitness regime.

Obviously, this wouldn´t happen if you´d hire a personal trainer to plan your fitness journey and help you all the way.

The common causes of muscle pain and how to avoid them in your exercise regimee
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Training senior adults. My methods surpass new studies.

Training senior adults

Last week I came across a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University. I had to read it twice to actually believe it, and a couple of times again before writing this post.

I´ve highlighted the “shocking” results so we can go straight to the point:

This is what Glenda achieved in 12 weeks, not 18 months! If you permit me, I think the training period time is the first achievement. Who wants to wait 18 months to see results? I´d love to know you if that´s so!

Glenda lost 11 pounds in 12 weeks, compared to 17 pounds in 18 months achieved by the study participants. 

Also, she gained 8,4 pounds of lean muscle, compared to 20% muscle mass loss in the study.

Side note, the weekly comments Glenda were doing each week in the measurement table were priceless.

These are the data that I can present to you, the conclusions are yours.

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News and projects

I want to thank you for your patience because, if you remember, last month I had to publish less than usual due to some family problems and other professional projects that had arisen.

Today I am happy to tell you that my mother is totally recovered from her surgery (thank you all for your prayers). I would like to share a picture of my mother, but she is one of those people who do not like to be photographed.

On the other hand, the projects are taking shape, and about that I can share some photos.

I had been offered a tv show on a local network and yesterday we recorded the pilot.

While they prepared the lights and the equipment, I took pictures as a child visiting the zoo.

I had fun. I had to repeat a few things several times, but I was less nervous than I expected. 

I surprised myself by being able to do the exercises without throwing the microphone to the ground.

The most pleasant and strange thing, at the same time, was having a team of people sharing the work: camera operator, editor, producer and me.

For the pilot, and to bring me luck, I chose one of the t-shirts that Glenda gave me. Hopefully, we will be working all summer and the show will be broadcast in October.

My other great project (still secret) is meeting deadlines and I will show you in a few weeks.

Stay tuned.

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Top 10 High-Fiber Foods

Top 10 High-Fiber Foods
Fiber is a form of carbohydrate found in plants that humans lack the enzyme to digest. It helps us feel fuller on fewer calories, keeps things moving through the gastrointestinal tract, can help support cardiovascular health, and can help support healthy blood sugar levels by slowing the absorption of sugar after a meal.
 
If you’re looking for a simpler way to slim down and improve your health, eating more fiber may help you get there.
 
Without fiber, the digestive tract suffers and people may develop high cholesterol that could lead to heart disease.
 
So, the question is, are you getting enough fiber?
 
The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that women ages 19–50 get from 25–28 grams of fiber daily; men ages 19–50 should aim for 30–34 grams daily. Due to today’s lacking Western diet, it is estimated that less than 5% of population get the recommended amount of dietary fiber each day.
 
All of the foods listed below are not just foods with the highest fiber content, but essential nutrients that help our bodies thrive.

Flaxseeds

Total dietary fiber: 2.8 grams of fiber per tablespoon of whole flaxseeds (10 grams) 
Essential nutrients: Protein, thiamine, manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, omega-3 fatty acids

Chia Seeds

Total dietary fiber: 10.6 grams per ounce (28 grams)
Essential nutrients: Protein, calcium, phosphorus, manganese, omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids

Coconut

Total dietary fiber: 7.2 grams per cup (80 grams)
Essential nutrients: Manganese, omega-6 fatty acids, folate, selenium

Almonds

Total dietary fiber: 11.6 grams of fiber per cup (95 grams)
Essential nutrients: Protein, vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, riboflavin, omega-6 fatty acids

Artichokes

Total dietary fiber: 10.3 grams of fiber per medium artichoke (120 grams)
Essential nutrients: Vitamins A, C, E, B, K; potassium; calcium; magnesium; phosphorous

Raspberries

Total dietary fiber: 8 grams of fiber per cup (123 grams)
Essential nutrients: Vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, folate

Avocados

Total dietary fiber: 10.1 grams per cup (150 grams) 
Essential nutrients: Vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin K, potassium

Peas

Total dietary fiber: 8.8 grams per cooked cup (160 grams)
Essential nutrients: Vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B6, thiamine, manganese, folate, vitamin A, protein

Chickpeas

Total dietary fiber: 12.5 grams of fiber per cup (164 grams)
Essential nutrients: Protein, copper, folate, manganese, omega-6 fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids

Lentils

Total dietary fiber: 15.6 grams of fiber per cup (198 grams)
Essential nutrients: Protein, iron, folate, manganese, phosphorous

Now, I´d love to know: How do you plan to combine these foods to get the fiber you need daily?

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Recoup Cold Massage Roller

Recoup Cold Massage Roller

The Recoup Cold Roller provides all the benefits of a traditional Self Myofacial Release (foam rolling) in combination with Cryotherapy (Ice Massage). These two forms of muscle therapy help to decrease inflammation, aid in post workout recovery, and allow specific treatment for areas in need.

By applying the pressure with the cold roller the muscle will release metabolic waste products and toxins which become build up in the muscle after exercising. In addition, Self Myofacial Release impacts the Golgi Tendon Organs and allows the muscle to relax. Once the muscle is relaxed the cold aspect of product allows for a decrease in inflammation.

Product Specs

  • Cold therapy + massage recovery
  • 2 hours in the freezer = 6 hours cold
  • Unscrew blue handle to use ball outside of handle
  • Use anywhere on the body
  • 3.4 oz cooling gel for safe travel
  • Handle free rolling
  • Ball 3.15 in. in diameter (a little larger than a baseball)

Injuries this Treats

  • Shin splints
  • Plantar fasciitis
  • Tight IT bands, quads, hamstrings
  • Neck pain
  • Carpal tunnel
  • Back pain

Benefits

  • Takes down inflamation
  • Faster muscle recovery
  • Lowers cell metabolism, saving energy
  • Helps to prevent tissue death
  • Stops pain
  • After muscles warm increasein blood flow
  • Muscle relaxation
  • Improve tissue recovery
  • Impruve neuromuscular efficiency
  • Regulate production of cytokines
  • Flush out lactic acid
  • Decrease muscle soreness

Regular price is 39.99$ 

If you want to get it just for 32.79$ send me an email to info@chape.fitness and I´ll get you the discount. As easy as that!

(US shipping only)

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Muscle Fiber Types

Muscle fibers
Are you a better distance runner or sprinter? Have you ever wondered why is that so?
 
The answer is simple: muscle fibers.
 
Skeletal muscle is composed of different muscle fibers and these are composed of functional units called sarcomeres. Within each sarcomere are the myofibrillar proteins myosin (the thick filament) and actin (the thin filament). The interaction of these 2 myofibrillar proteins allows muscles to contract.. Each myocyte contains many myofibrils, which are strands of proteins (actin and myosin) that can grab on to each other and pull. 
Muscle fibers

Muscle Fiber Types

There are three types of skeletal muscle cells:
Fiber Type
Contraction Speed
Time To Peak Power
Fatigue
Color
Type I (slow twitch)
Slow
100 milliseconds
Slowly
Red
Type IIA (fast twitch oxidative fibres)
Fast
50 milliseconds
Fast
Red
Type IIB (fast twitch glycolytic fibres)
Very Fast
25 milliseconds
Fast
White
  1. Type I fibers are characterized by low force/power/speed production and high endurance, The slow twitch muscle fibers are more efficient at using oxygen to generate more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) fuel for continuous, extended muscle contractions over a long time. They fire more slowly than fast twitch fibers and can go for a long time before they fatigue. Therefore, slow twitch fibers are great at helping athletes run marathons and bicycle for hours.
  2. Type IIB fibers are characterized by high force/power/speed production and low endurance. These fast twitch fibers use anaerobic metabolism to create energy and are the “classic” fast twitch muscle fibers that excel at producing quick, powerful bursts of speed. This muscle fiber has the highest rate of contraction (rapid firing) of all the muscle fiber types, but it also has a faster rate of fatigue and can’t last as long before it needs rest.
  3. Type IIA fall in between the two. These fast twitch muscle fibers are also known as intermediate fast-twitch fibers. They can use both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism almost equally to create energy. In this way, they are a combination of type I and type IIB muscle fibers.
This range of muscle fiber types allows for the wide variety of capabilities that human muscles display. On average, people have about 50 percent slow twitch and 50 percent fast twitch fibers in most of the muscles used for movement.

Motor Units

Muscle fibers are organized into motor units grouped within each muscle. A motor unit is simply a bundle or grouping of muscle fibers. When you want to move, the brain nearly instantaneously sends a signal or impulse through the spinal cord that reaches the motor unit. The impulse then tells that particular motor unit to contract it’s fibers. 
 
The body recruits the lower threshold motor units first (slow-twitch), followed by the higher threshold motor units (fast-twitch) and continues to recruit and fire motor units until you’ve applied enough force to do whatever it is you’re trying to do regarding movement. When you are lifting something extremely heavy or applying a lot of force your body will contract practically all the available motor units for that particular muscle.
Type I muscle motor units contract less forcefully and a little slower then type II motor units and they reach peak power slower. This is why you can sit and eat all day or play Playstation all day and never get tired!
 
The type II motor units are capable of greater levels of absolute force than type I and also fatigue a lot quicker. Type IIA and IIB are capable of roughly the same amount of peak force, but the IIA fibers take longer to reach their peak power in comparison to type IIB.
 
Fast twitch fibers don’t like high volumes or long durations of work. They don’t even like a high frequency of work. If we go back to our ancestral roots, fast twitch IIB fibers were used only in times of stress situations. These would include running away from a predator, fighting, chasing food, or other brief explosive muscle action. They were only active for a few minutes per day at most. Since they weren’t used often the body had no real need to sacrifice them for a more efficient fiber. Sedentary people are the same way and have more fast twitch IIB muscle than athletes as the use of their fibers is limited and there is no need for their bodies to make more efficient adaptations.

Changing size or fiber type composition

Muscle fibers can adapt to changing demands by changing size or fiber type composition. This plasticity serves as the physiologic basis for numerous physical therapy interventions designed to increase a patient’s force development or endurance. There is evidence that muscle fibers not only change in size in response to demands, but they can also convert from one type to another. This plasticity in contractile and metabolic properties in response to training and rehabilitation allows for adaptation to different functional demands.
 
Fiber conversions between type IIB and type IIA are the most common, but type I to type II conversions are possible in cases of severe deconditioning or spinal cord injury.
 
Less evidence exists for the conversion of type II to type I fibers with training or rehabilitation, because only studies that use denervated muscle that is chronically activated with electrical stimulation have consistently demonstrated that such a conversion is possible.
 
Changes in the muscle fiber types are also responsible for some of the loss of function associated with deconditioning.
Some of the loss of muscle performance (decreased force production) due to aging does not appear to be only due to the conversion of muscle fibers from one type to another, but largely due to a selective atrophy of certain populations of muscle fiber types. With aging, there is a progressive loss of muscle mass and maximal oxygen uptake, leading to a reduction in muscle performance and presumably some of the loss of function (decreased ability to perform activities of daily living) seen in elderly people. Age-related loss of muscle mass results primarily from a decrease in the total number of both type I and type II fibers and, secondarily, from a preferential atrophy of type II fibers. Atrophy of type II fibers leads to a larger proportion of slow type muscle mass in aged muscle, as evidenced by slower contraction and relaxation times in older muscle.
 
Fortunately, physical therapy interventions can affect muscle fiber types leading to improvements in muscle performance. Physical therapy interventions can be broadly divided into those designed to increase the patient’s resistance to fatigue and those designed to increase the patient’s force production.
 
Evidence is lacking to demonstrate that type II fibers convert to type I with endurance training, although there does appear to be an increase in the mixed type I and IIA fiber populations. Researchers have found that type I fibers become faster with endurance exercise and slower with deconditioning.
 
High-intensity resistance training (high-load–low-repetition training) results in changes in fiber type similar to those seen with endurance training, although muscle hypertrophy also plays an essential role in producing strength gains. Initial increases in force production with high-intensity resistance training programs are largely mediated by neural factors, rather than visible hypertrophy of muscle fibers, in adults with no pathology or impairments. Even so, changes in muscle proteins, do begin after a few workouts, but visible hypertrophy of muscle fibers is not evident until training is conducted over a longer period of time (>8 weeks).
 
Although the trends in fiber type conversions are similar for endurance training and resistance training, differences in physiological changes that occur with each type of exercise are also important. Endurance training increases the oxidative capacity of muscle, whereas training to increase force production of sufficient intensity and duration promotes hypertrophy of muscle fibers by increasing the volume of contractile proteins in the fibers.
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Glenda´s fitness journey

Dear David,

When Milae wrote about you in her lifexperimentblog; she gave me the motivation and information to try and win a workout contest with Chape Fitness.

She’s twigged me on to several new things but I have to say that winning this contest and being able to work out and chat with you for months has changed my life forever!  I want to thank you both for this golden opportunity! I might as well tell you; I’ve told everyone I know or meet about it🎉

I sent you a before and after photo. 😊🌟I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful I feel; all thanks to you and your online methods.

Glenda last summer
Before
Glenda May 19
After

I wanted to share with you a couple of the things that have made all the difference in my personal success. The first one being the DAILY DIARY of food intake.  Filling in the diary daily has made me study my intake of healthy food! Knowing that you were keeping up with it was like having a close friend to rely on to keep you on track.

I love the variation in workouts so that every part of me was getting stronger!

The weekly measurements became so exciting because I knew I was going to see improvements. I loved that you week by gave me body fat % and muscle % and improvements were on paper as well on and in me.

I love that my husband and friends comment about the improvements in my size, my appearance overall and my self-confidence. I love that some of my small VERY young friends enjoy exercising with me. “Look what I can do, Gaga! ( the name little ones call me) Can you do this? “ and at close to 67; I can keep up, easily!

The other amazing thing about all this that I had a minor injury before we started that we had to deal with an eye surgery, which I expected to really slow down my progress. But David, you told me how to handle my diet and changed my workout my workouts to meet my needs and my progress continued!!!

I hope you can share some of my thoughts with others to encourage them to change their lives, too!
THANK YOU !! THANK YOU MORE THAN I CAM EXPRESS FOR MY HEALTH!!!!
❤️Glenda K.

I am sad my time is almost up BUT I plan to sign up and continue working with you in the fall!

 

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Light month

Hello, dears.

Last week my mother underwent surgery and I was with her all week in the hospital. Everything went well but, as you will understand, she will need my help the next few weeks.

Also, since I appeared in the media, I have many new clients and a couple of big projects came up. So, I will need the next couple of weeks to reschedule and organize. This means that I will post just once per week this month until I get everything in place.

Best,

David

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Here are some ways to create a new you by Constance Ray

We’re now well into the new year, and how have your resolutions fared? Perfectly well, we’re sure. But in case you want to make 2018 the new year of you, here are some ways to make self-improvement a priority in your life. Just work on these few things, and you will feel like a new person in no time.

 

Join a gym — You know you need to exercise more, and you know a gym will help you do it. Start shopping around for a place to workout. Look for affordability, location and offerings. If you’re a person who likes group fitness classes, don’t join a gym with a weak offering. If you like weights, try to find one where bodybuilders and powerlifters workout. If you like having a personal trainer, check to see that the ones who work with that gym are certified. Most gyms will let you try it out first, so give it a whirl before you sign up. You should feel comfortable.

 

Upgrade your wardrobe — If you’ve been lounging around in jeans and sweatpants your whole adult life, it might be time to start looking like a grown professional. Just buy a couple of pieces every paycheck, and you won’t have to break the bank. Also, try to find pieces that can be mixed and matched with some stuff you already have, so you aren’t stuck with the same exact outfit over and over. Shop thrift shops and consignment sales, and you’re bound to find some great buys!

 

Kick that addiction — If you’ve struggled with addiction to drugs or alcohol and are now working on getting clean, there are ways to enhance your chances of staying that way. Studies have shown that diet and exercise can be a great boost to staying free of addiction. Yoga and meditation can also help you become more centered.

 

Quit smoking — This is the year you’ll do it! You know you need to, and you know it won’t be easy. Talk to your doctor about the best way to quit. She knows the latest in smoking cessation methods and which ones are backed by studies. She might offer to prescribe medication to make quitting easier, or she might direct you to a local support program. There are so many ways to quit, that if one doesn’t work for you, you can always try another. Just imagine all the money you’ll save. Don’t give up on your lungs.

 

Take some personal time — If you’ve been neglecting yourself for the sake of others, try to make some time for yourself. Go to a spa, get a facial, a mani-pedi and get your hair done. You don’t have to do it all at once, but taking time for yourself is important. It will help you stay refreshed so you can go about your day, as well as help reduce stress.

 

Get creative — Take an art class, write a book, start coloring or work on a long-forgotten project. Using the creative part of your brain will help you focus better on your daily life and boost your overall happiness. It forces you to use a part of your brain that you may not use very often, which is always good for continuing development. Some studies show that art education can even benefit you physically.

 

When you set a goal to improve yourself, you are committing to a better life. And who doesn’t want that? Take each goal a little at a time, and you’ll start to notice your success as you go. The more you take care of yourself, you increase the odds of living longer and living better. Don’t give up on your dreams: You can make this your best year ever.

Constance Ray

Constance Ray

Constance Ray started Recoverywell.org with the goal of creating a safe place for people to share how addiction has affected them, whether they are combating it themselves or watching someone they care about work to overcome it. The goal is to share stories of hope from survivors who know that the fight against addiction is one worth having, because no matter how it affects you, life can get better.

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Meal planning and grocery list with Evernote

Grocery list

Today I´d like to share some tips to save you time and make your life much easier, explaining how to meal planning and build your grocery list with Evernote.

If you have been following this blog for some time, you´re used to a monthly “30 healthy recipes” post. If not, let me show you the list of recipes available so far, in alphabetical order:

This simple list means 480 recipes, without a single paper, which proves that Evernote is a great tool to keep and search all the recipes you need. All you have to do is create a specific notebook for your recipes and save them all in there. But you can (and should) do more than just save recipes. You can plan your meals and your grocery list with just a few clicks.

First, when you´re struggling thinking about what are you going to eat next week, there is nothing easier than scroll down your recipes notebook and chose from a wide range of recipes. Then, all you need is a note called “Meal plan“, for instance. 

Let´s plan your next week´s dinners. We could plan all your meals, but this post is just to give you an idea of how easy and useful is Evernote for your daily life.

You check your recipes and chose what you´d like to have for dinner next week. Right-click on the recipe and select “copy internal link” (Shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + L). 

Copy internal link

Then paste this link on your “Meal Plan” note (Shorcut: Ctrl + V).

Meal plan

The table, of course, is totally optional. For new Evernote users who want to know more about creating and customize tables, please read this.

Once we have our internal links on our Meal Plan note, we can easily check the instructions, losing no  time searching the  recipe. 

Confetti Lentils instructions

To help us build our grocery list, all we have to do is copy (Shorcut: Ctrl +C) the ingredients of each recipe and paste (Ctrl + V) them right after our meal plan.  

Grocery list

While you´re doing this, I strongly recommend you to check:

  1. The most common ingredients, like salt, olive oil, onion, etc.
  2. What you already have in your kitchen.

This way you won´t buy what you already have available or buy the same product twice.

As we are used to taking our phones everywhere we go, you´ll have your grocery list available anytime, and you won´t ever need a paper to remind you what to need to buy at the store.