How To Support Your Bone Health With Exercise

From 35 onwards, we start to lose more bone than we make. Yikes

Throw menopause into the mix, and the depletion of the bone protecting hormone oestrogen means women are more at risk of osteoporosis. Therefore it is vital that we support our bone health with exercise and diet and the earlier we get going, the better.

Bone is a living, growing tissue and responds to stimulus. The muscles contracting create a stress on the bones which stimulates new bone formation.

So what exercises work best?

Weight-bearing Exercise
These are exercises where we are working against gravity. They can be divided into high impact e.g. plyometric moves (jumping), running , playing tennis , skipping.
Low impact, e.g. hiking (add poles for upper body workout), dancing , stair walking. Or no impact – yoga , Pilates, tai chi – where we are using body strength – think standing poses, arm balances, planks, push up variations.

Resistance / Strength Training
This is where we are pushing or pulling against a force.

Weights - Everyone can work out with weights and you don’t even have to go to a gym. If you don’t have dumbbells / kettlebells at home, you can improvise - tins of beans, bottles of water, a bag of spuds can be used.

Dynabands – I love these rubberbandits. They are really versatile, and can provide a full body workout including flexibility and mobility as well as strength..

Suspension Training e.g. TRX You can hang it off a tree or out of a door and it is fantastic for an all over body workout.

Reformer Pilates – what’s not to love? Again another excellent system for creating an all over body workout working against resistance with a focus on core strength.

Tune in next week for ‘Nutrition to Support our Bone Health’.

An Afternoon of Aerial Acrobatics

Swinging From The Ceiling
The last weekend in July found me literally swinging from the ceiling – I know the word ‘literally’ tends to be overused these days but trust me, I’m using it in context thanks to my Aerial Cirque ‘Introduction To Silks’ workshop.

I managed to persuade two of my pals to come along with me – Debbie, who was a willing victim and Aoife, less willing but suffers from severe FOMO which makes her an easy target. 

What? Who? Where?
 In case you’re not familiar with it, Aerial silks is the performance of aerial acrobatics while hanging from long lengths of fabric.   Perhaps you saw Pink’s unforgettable performance at the 2010 Grammy’s…as if singing in front of a massive audience of your peers wasn’t challenging enough, she threw in some aerial silks work aswell ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htaKHoihSSA

 Aerial Cirque is run by aerialist extraordinaire Ria Murphy and is situated in an old Victorian building at no. 10 Exchequer street. The studio itself is full of space and character, with beautiful stained glass windows providing colour and light to the shabby chic interior.   

An Historical Site
Bear with me while I go off on a bit of a tangent, but the building itself is so interesting I had to do a little bit of snooping.  As it turns out Exchequer Street has a fascinating and at times sordid history.  The site of at least three political assassinations, home to the 12th century exchequer, that’s probably not a revelation, and later on brothels and at one stage a temperance hotel - that was never going to catch on.  Particularly interesting it seems No. 10 played home or at least ‘office’ to the Irish National Aid and Volunteers’ Dependants’ Fund and in turn was workplace to Michael Collins who became secretary to the fund in February 1917.    

Warm Up
Back to the business of aerial acrobatics.  After we all signed the very thorough waiver, we met our teacher Nicola. As bendy as she was patient, she got us off to an energetic start with our warm-up which served as a good ice breaker. 

Tying Ourselves Up In Knots
As soon as the warm-up was done, the crash mats come out – yikes.  We were split up into groups of twos and threes to each silk.  The vibrantly coloured silks all hang from the ceiling looking like props from a Bollywood movie.  Our first lesson was how to tie a knot.  I failed miserably at this, thankfully one of my team was more than competent and happy to be the chief knot tyer.  

Once our silks were safely knotted (thanks Hayley), we were ready to start some simple ‘bum hoists’, I’m not sure what the official term is.  Nicola demonstrated each move a couple of times and then it was our turn.  We quickly graduated from sitting to standing and onwards to a standing lunge out of the silks, on to the flying splits or at least that’s what it looked like when Nicola was doing it.  My version of it looked a bit more like Penelope Pitstop with a hamstring strain.  

Taking Things Upside Down
After quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, again I’m talking literally here, we graduated to the inversions. Although hanging upside down looked quite complicated in the demo and yes, I had to be talked through it very slowly, we all managed it.  The two hours flew by and I would certainly recommend it as a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  The workshop kicks off at 15.30 and costs €30.

That’s a (Silk) Wrap!
It is quite strenuous, if you have any issues at all I would make sure to discuss with Aerial Cirque before booking in.  I would suggest bringing a long sleeved top as there are one or two moves which are a little bit chafey on the old underarms.  Remove your jewellery, bring your friends, or go it alone, the vibe is welcoming and fun for all.  If you fall in love with aerial performance on your first date, there’s a six week beginners course take you to the next level.

 www.aerialcirque.org
(01) 444 8959
info@aerialcirque.org

The Benefits of Working Out at Work

The buzz around Corporate Health & Wellness Programmes has been growing steadily.  At the January launch of the government’s ‘Healthy Ireland 2018’ campaign, Leo Varadkar flagged upcoming tax incentives for employers to install showering facilities and equipment into the workplace indicating the government’s strong support for workplace wellness.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), workplace health programmes are one of the most effective ways to prevent and control chronic disease and to support mental health, so it’s fair to say that workplace wellness / fitness is not a passing fad.  Although relatively new to Ireland, corporate wellness programmes originated in the US in the 90s, growing steadily to the point where they are now more of a need to have than a nice to have.  Some companies in Sweden including sportswear retailer ‘Bjorn Borg’ have gone as far as making on-the-job exercise compulsory with a weekly workout at a nearby gym.

I have taught corporate classes for over two years and put the question to some of my clients, asking how they saw the classes benefitting them. Roisín, who has been attending classes for over a year, mentioned several points including better back health, improved sleep, increased productivity and convenience. 
As a busy Mum of three girls with chronic back pain who has a long commute, she finds it impossible to fit in exercise outside the workplace;  “With lunchtime Pilates at work, I can fit exercise into my daily schedule. I have seen a noticeable improvement in my back while doing the Pilates classes, which has helped to considerably reduce the pain and as a result improve my quality of sleep. I also find on the days where I have that break to do Pilates at lunchtime, my afternoons are even more productive as I come back to my desk rejuvenated and ready to go.”

Mental wellness is now recognised as a major component in our overall health. One of the greatest challenges to our mental health is stress, all too often caused by what’s going on in the workplace.  While physical exercise is a known mood enhancer, many companies are offering a more direct approach to mental health with meditation / mindfulness classes.

Treacy O'Connor, team lead for meditation, mindfulness and team building with Corporate Wellness Ireland, says "We are receiving an ever increasing amount of corporate enquiries. Every session has been full to date with up to 60 people at a time. Giving the workforce access to very simple techniques they can use at any time of the day is proving to be of great benefit. One employee shared with me, that before the sessions, she suffered a lot from anxiety. She has been able to greatly reduce her symptoms (actually they’re nearly gone) and she now feels much more confident in herself.”

As well as the physical and mental health benefits, corporate classes have been shown to foster camaraderie between work colleagues. Never mind discussing last night’s Game of Thrones episode around the water cooler – how about comparing aches after yesterday’s exercise class?  As head of the TII sports and social committee, Mary Deevy reported “An unexpected bonus, as a recently merged organisation, is that the Pilates classes which are attended by a great mix of staff have facilitated staff to get to know each other better”. 

Let’s face it, business is business and companies are not going to invest in an initiative long term unless there are benefits to be had for the organization.  Healthy and more energised employees mean better productivity and less sick days. In addition, a good corporate wellness program can make a company more attractive to potential employees and can help to retain existing ones thanks to workplace satisfaction.

Whether fully, partially or not subsidised by the boss, more often than not wellness programmes work out cheaper for employees than the gym or regular fitness classes. Furthermore the convenience of working out at work is clear.  Workplace wellness programmes don’t have to be complicated or expensive or limited to large businesses or urban centres.  There’s a broad menu of activities to choose from and if you want to keep costs to zero, walking or running groups are an easy to organise option with a wide array of training apps to choose from.

The benefits are far-reaching, from individual employees to the companies they work for, with the end goal being that a healthier workforce impacts positively on families, communities and the nation as a whole, from an economic to a quality of life perspective.

© Grá For Fitness 2018