Health Kick: Giving it 110%
Have you ever heard someone say “you should be doing this run at 60 per cent effort” or “do these sets at 80 per cent,” without having any idea what they’re on about? Sixty per cent of what?
Typically when you hear those sorts of comments from a coach or a health instructor, they’re referring to percentages of your maximum possible effort, or more directly, your maximum possible heart rate. Trouble is, most people don’t actually know what their max heart rate is, so they end up working at a different effort level than what’s required for the workout. Making these unguided decisions can actually be extremely detrimental if you’re training for a specific goal, such as losing weight or becoming competent at the 100m dash. Training at different intensity levels trains your body to do different things.
Pumped Up Health Kick: Pressing on with your plan
Hopefully by this point you haven’t packed it in yet. And if you haven’t dropped out, then you’re probably thinking about it. “What have I gotten myself into? Maybe I’m just going to hurt myself. Am I ready for this kind of commitment?” Fretting about it will get you nowhere. Well, it will get you back on the couch in a hurry. But that wasn’t the goal you originally set out to do (right? If so, you have some weird and inefficient goals). Luckily there are some motivational strategies that can stave off these negative thoughts, some of them being as simple as changing your social circle. And now is the time to start implementing these special tactics: before you can stop yourself from achieving your own goals.
Getting started: equipment and your first week
With your goals and potential exercises in mind, the next step is to actually go do them. This is where most people get hung up. They’ll start to run a few times a week, develop a sore hip after two days, and then never run again. My goal is to not let that happen to you, assumedly avid reader. Let’s talk about what can be done.
How to follow through: New Years fitness resolutions
New Years has come and gone, and with its passing comes another installment of resolutions that are needlessly doomed to failure. Goals involving health and fitness often gets buried behind a number of seemingly more important tasks, like studying for a final, or watching Grey’s Anatomy. But don’t despair! You’ve come to the right place for the tools you need to start your health and fitness goals, whatever they may be. And, most importantly, what you need to know to see them through.
Tryptophan: the skinny on turkey
Tryptophan is an amino acid. It’s one of 20 standard amino acids, and is essential to the human diet. It’s perhaps best known outside of the science world for being the stuff that’s in turkey that makes us sleepy
Easing into the workout routine
Maybe students are like weekend warriors, except with semesters instead of weeks – we do all of our working out during the time off between terms. If so, the time to get back into shape is soon approaching
Vitamin D: we live in a dark world
Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin, and that in itself poses a problem. As students holed away during the final weeks of our semester, and as Canadians, we don’t see much sunshine, some questioning if it even exists. So how do we get our daily intake?
Soy bad for you?
One aspect of the health concerns regarding soy products is the fact that Canada does not legally require companies to label their food products if they contain genetically modified soy. Many studies have been shown to demonstrate the dangers of genetically modified soy; increased risk of cancer, rats with damaged immune systems, and reduced cognitive function are principal among the negative results.
Vitamin C: more than just oranges
Vitamin C is also known as L-ascorbic acid or L-ascorbate. Our bodies don’t produce it and aren’t that good at storing it, so it’s one of those things that we need to ensure is present in our diet. Why, you ask?
The more you know: Aspartame
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener. It’s used in everything from diet soda to mouthwash, yet the safety of the substance remains under constant scrutiny. Some of the reasons for questioning the chemical are easily negated, yet there are many that don’t come with easy explanations.
Dialling in on the danger of cell phones
Recently, the health risks of using cell phones have been under scrutiny, especially regarding their radiation. Health organizations seem unable to conclusively decide if they pose a risk to our health or not, but recent studies indicate that there may be dangers lurking in our purses and pockets.
Students and caffeine: inside the bean
Caffeine can be a best friend. It keeps us awake and gives us something to wash down those timbits with. However, it’s got some risks – and as it turns out, many of those risks hit the student demographic pretty hard.
The Bikram yoga craze
Lim Hing explained how Bikram yoga is a sequence of 26 postures and two breathing exercises. Each posture prepares you for the next, often more challenging posture. It’s the same sequence of postures and breathing exercises every time. The theory is that by doing the same thing class after class your focus is not learning the techniques of new postures, but rather focusing on perfecting the postures you already know. It all takes place in a heated room with a wall of floor-to-ceiling mirrors in front of you. “You see yourself in the mirror and you can’t really escape from yourself and [that] requires you to focus,” said Lim Hing.
The importance of sleep
In a conversation with Dr. Jacques West, MD of Medimax Abbotsford I had the opportunity discuss the importance of sleep and why students should attempt, as best as possible, to maintain a decent sleep pattern
BREAKING NEWS: Eating healthy is good for your health
I sat down with Dr. Kathy Keiver, a Kinesiology professor at UFV, to talk about the different ways in which students, new and old, can maintain a balanced diet:
May is Melanoma Awareness Month
“Slip-Slop-Slap” is a common phrase in the summer months to remind people to, “slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, and slap on a hat.” As we welcome the beautiful summer weather, folks are reminded to stay smart and know the effects that the sun has on our body. Coming from the dreary months where most people crave their fill of vitamin D, it’s important to stay mindful of the side effects too much sun has, but also not be fearful of the rays we are all yearning for.
