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A guide to health and fitness apps

Mobile phones – and increasingly smart phones – are central to our everyday lives. The digital world is constantly on the move and sometimes it is difficult to keep up with the changes or to know what is best for you. We have taken a look at the most popular smart phone health and fitness apps to find out what really helps and how. Here are our recommendations and some advice.

MyFitnessPal

If you are looking to balance your diet and reduce calories, MyFitnessPal by Fitnow is perfect… or almost. MyFitnessPal counts how many calories you consume per day. You can set a daily calorie goal and then keep a record of your food and exercise to make sure you stay on track. But remember to set realistic goals – especially for teenagers – and not crazy ones. While the aim may be to lose weight, you also need the right nutrients. This app is great for understanding how your daily intake is affecting your weight, but won’t help you balance the nutrients you are consuming. Eating one muffin for breakfast and then nothing for the rest of the day for example, isn’t the route to balanced health and fitness.

Fooducate

With Fooducate, you enter a product, compare products and select better alternatives. It was created by dietitians and parents and identifies the ingredients that manufacturers don’t want you to notice such as excessive sugar, trans fats, additives and preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and controversial food colourings. Fooducate allows you to be smart with your shopping choices and when used with MyFitnessPal can set you on the right path to health and fitness.

WebMD

Another interesting health app is WebMD which provides mobile access 24/7 to mobile-optimised health information including a symptom checker, drugs and treatments, first aid advice and local health listings. Accessing the first aid advice can be done without having to be connected to the Internet – critical if you don’t have Internet access in time of need. You can also personalise the app by saving drugs, conditions and articles relevant to you through secure access and easy sign-in. This app doesn’t make you a doctor but can be used as a guide for symptoms or for first aid tips, to check a prescribed medicine or simply find a local list of doctors. If you are unsure, always consult your GP.

RunKeeper Pro

RunKeeper Pro is a feature-rich app that enables GPS tracking, distance, speed monitoring, caloric output and activity history for activities and sports such as running, cycling, hiking, skiing and swimming.

Water Your Body

As the name implies, Water Your Body is an app that helps keep your daily water consumption on track. You do this easily by selecting the icon that corresponds to how much water you have drunk or by entering it manually.

All of these apps, used individually or together or ideally as part of a tailor-made training programme such as those offered by our Personal Trainers here at Integrated Training, can help take you one step further to helping you achieve your goals. They can help you keep track of your food and water consumption and increase awareness of your health and fitness, all of which contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY VS. PHYSICAL EXERCISE

Every day we do physical activity such as moving around the house, walking to the car or picking up the kids. Modern life makes us sedentary and our movements repetitive, such as moving a computer mouse for hours at a time. Little by little, our everyday physical activity starts to affect our bodies, our backs curve, our tummy muscles don’t hold our organs in the right place, we have headaches, our energy runs low, our heart loses strength. Unfortunately, we can’t return to times past when our level of daily exercise alone kept us healthy and in shape. So, what to do?

“Exercise has to be the balance, the tool that complements repetitive everyday physical activity that helps us grow and age healthily. Any type of programme that you start, you should be conscientious about your everyday physical activity. Talk to your trainer. Think about what you do, your routine,” says Fabio Gomez, Director of Integrated Personal Training. A fitness professional can tell a lot about your life just by looking at your body. Just as a smile or worry wrinkles reflect how a person lives their life, your posture and figure say a lot about you. 

Bad habits affect your day to day physical activity. So even when we take a walk, as innocent as it may sound, moving incorrectly can develop into a bad habit and give us back problems. Lifting incorrectly and repetitive movements exacerbate these bad habits. 

One example is the ‘tummy prolapsed posture’ that occurs slowly over time due to changes in the natural pelvic organ support system. The human female spine, pelvis and pelvic organs develop in a very specific way as a result of intra-abdominal pressure or the expansion of our lungs by gravity. That anatomy is supported by the ways in which women sit, stand and move throughout the day. Modern life no longer encourages natural posture so the innate female pelvic organ support system often becomes compromised. 

So think again, look at yourself and seek advice. If you can improve the way you do daily things, you will feel and look much better. Create a variation of movements – don’t stay in the same position. If you pick up your kids, bend your legs – your back will be grateful for that small difference. 

And of course, remember to exercise. This will give you all that your posture and your body needs, among other positive results. This way, everyone has the chance to feel better and live life to the full – including you. http://www.integrated-training.co.uk/physical.html

5 Tips for a day sitting in the office

Did you know that the major cause of back pain is your chair? So if you spend all day sitting in an office chair, here are some tips for some welcome back relief:

 Hands

The mouse is a very harmful element to your hands, arms and neck. Starting with the right hand, gently extend the fingers back one by one. Then stretch them all back together. This helps to stretch open your palm. Repeat several times. Take your thumb back towards your wrist. Then bring it forwards, stretching gently and firmly. Never force it. Finish by making a fist and slowly opening it, stretching your fingers and thumb out as far as you can.

 Breaks

Try to take small breaks and walk. This simple tip can make a big difference. Sitting in the same position all day can cause a lack of circulation throughout your body and place your spine in a prolonged state of compression. Short breaks intermittently throughout the day will help to restore circulation and decompress your spine.

 Seated posture

Without using the back rest of your chair, sit with your feet flat on the floor and pointed straight ahead. Keep your chest up, your shoulders back and your palms facing forward. Take four deep breaths from your belly while concentrating on relaxing as you exhale.

 Take the stairs 

If there are stairs at work, go for them. Take a deep breath and up you go. You will start to see a difference if you use them regularly.

 Hanging

It can be difficult to find a place, but there are practical bars that you can put in your doors. Did you know that just one minute of hanging is equal to one hour's rest? Just hanging by both arms from a comfortable support is well within our abilities and provides a VERY strong and NATURAL stretch for our shoulders, spine and lumbar and lower thoracic discs.

How to exercise at every age

Our bodies are changing throughout our whole lives and, at each stage, will benefit from a different type of exercise for both a healthy mind and body, regardless of our age. While our exercise habits are best nurtured in childhood, it is never too late to start some kind of exercise regime. “The key is to know your own body, to be aware of its needs and to respond appropriately to its changes as you age” says Fabio Gomez of Integrated Training in London.

Kids: it’s playtime!

Get your kids into action – all general physical exercises will help with their physical and psychological development. But don’t worry about having to motivate them… what more could a kid want! Take them out to play, to the park, playground or pool. Let them run, jump and climb. Walk with them and try to avoid leaving the little ones permanently in the pushchair – even a short walk is good exercise for them.

At least one hour of physical exercise every day means one hour of playtime in a place where they can run and jump.

Teens to 20s: higher energy levels

This is a time when our bodies are developing and our immune systems strengthening – which requires lots of sleep and natural energy boosts. These years are crucial for working out to strengthen muscles and bones combined with a diet rich in nutrients and proteins to foster growth.

The combination of strength training (weights) and cardiovascular exercise for at least 20 minutes three-to-six days a week is perfect to keep you energised, well-rested and strong while also revving up your metabolism. Choose activities you enjoy such as dancing, cycling, walking, jogging, swimming, surfing or boxing. Doing something you enjoy takes all the pressure and thought out of exercise. Don’t forget to warm up and cool down to prevent pulls and strains.

Teenagers can get health benefits from any activity they enjoy – ideally for an hour a day.

30s to 50s: time for a routine

You know what you want, who you are and you are more disciplined. But a busy life of career, home and family get in the way. No time for exercise? It’s not true! It’s all about prioritising – and exercising should be up there with eating and sleeping. Walk to work, or put on some music when you get home and dance. Whenever possible, take the stairs at work, bike or walk to the grocery store, hike in the woods and play with your children. Practise regular meditation to encourage relaxation, focus and comfort.

Fabio advises women to focus in particular on strength training: “As women of this age group gradually tend to lose their bone mass, they should concentrate on strength training to protect their bones and to improve their muscle strength at least two or three times a week.”

Try to do some form of aerobic exercise on a daily basis. Beginners should try to include stretching and flexibility exercises. Create clear workout goals and stick to them. Even 15 minutes of exercise a day can lead to immediate health benefits such as a stronger respiratory system, reduced stress and improved sleep. Do cardiovascular workouts for 30 minutes to an hour three-to-five days a week. Try fun classes like spinning, step, kickboxing or martial arts. Keep your joints flexible and improve balance by doing yoga or dance. If you experience joint pain, opt for low-impact walks or swims. Do at least 10 minutes a day of weights. Try 15 repetitions on biceps, triceps, shoulders, hamstrings, quadriceps and calves. This will keep your muscles strong and prevent bone loss. Core exercises improve posture, digestion and stability; remember nowadays our lives happen around a computer in an unhealthy sedentary life. Pilates, belly dancing or abdominal and back training build core strength.

40s and 50s: midlife crisis

The term ‘midlife crisis’ has become a cliché. Nevertheless, middle age can be an emotional low point. A 2008 study of two million people in 80 countries found that in middle age, there is the highest risk of depression – around 40 for American women and 50 for men. On the positive side, the data also suggests that your mood improves from the 50s onwards! One of the best ways to promote emotional wellbeing is to get your blood pumping – even a simple daily walk will do. And if any of your bad habits such as smoking or heavy drinking have continued into middle age, now is the time to kick them.

60s and onwards: let’s move!

Add years and improve your quality of life. Senior citizens can enjoy active bodies and good health well into their ‘80s and beyond. Talk with your doctor to find a diet and exercise plan that works for you, particularly if you have health concerns or chronic illnesses.

Workouts need not be overly structured and can concentrate more on flexibility and balance. Aerobic and strength training exercises can continue as this benefits those suffering from various medical conditions more frequent in this age group.

Don’t overdo it! Incorporate cardiovascular exercise at least three days a week by walking or swimming. Avoid straining your heart. Cycle, doing the garden or cleaning your house can be enough. Weight exercises keep bones and muscles strong, preventing injury, promoting independence and improving mobility. If you cannot hold weights, try doing arm and leg repetitions without them. Retain balance and flexibility by doing stretching or low-impact water aerobics. Work on touching your toes and nose, walking in a straight line and standing on one leg.

“There are no real limits,” says Fabio. “Socialising is also a major component of physical health. It can improve your heart rate, reduce depression and pain, lower blood pressure and help fight insomnia. And be creative! Take up lawn bowls, join a dance class or even something simple like rocking your grandchildren can help.”.

The recommended amount of activity is 30 minutes on most, if not every day.

Adults who are physically active not only have a lower risk of disease, depression and chronic pain from conditions like arthritis and back pain, but are also less vulnerable to dementia than their inactive peers. “Walking 30 minutes a day, parking just that little farther away from the supermarket… do whatever it takes,” says Fabio.

Remember, physical fitness should be an important part of all our lives, no matter what age or gender. After all, a healthy lifestyle is something that will not only help you live longer, but also help make your life more enjoyable. (www.integrated-training.co.uk)