How to start a healthy living and exercise program…

When starting an exercise program it is important to find an activity you enjoy and begin slowly with gradual build up. Try to begin doing some sort of easy activity such as a simple walking program on alternate days each week. The ultimate target is 150 minutes per week of some type of cardiac (aerobic) movement but in the early days this amount can be less as you gradually build up a regular routine.

Athletes are continually seeking an edge in performance improvement. For as long as there has been competitive sport participants have tried to find some additional strategy which will give them an advantage beyond the level they have achieved thus far through effort and hard training.

Have you ever thought how much you rely on your brain for your day-to-day function? Your brain functions as the main control panel for your body and controls all the functions of your vital organs. You need your brain so you can think, reason, remember things, learn and for communication. If your brain isn’t functioning properly, you know you are in real trouble!

“The Ultimate goal of the Blessed life, is physical health and mental serenity” (Epicurus).

Mental health has become one of the most discussed health topics in society in recent years. What was once a relatively “taboo” topic smothered in stigma and derided by so many, has now been revealed as a widespread affliction across all age groups. It can manifest in so many guises and the impact on individuals, families, society and the community is widespread.

There are many components contributing to how regular physical activity leads to reduction in illness risk and the promotion of health. Some of the areas that have been studied include:

1.     Increased basal metabolic rate ( BMR)
It makes sense that during physical activity your metabolic rate rises, with increases in heart rate, energy usage, oxygen transfer and muscle activity all well documented.  

“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health” - Hippocrates, 460-377 BC .

We live in an era where there are many competing tasks for the limited time we have in our day. One of the most important goals we must have right if we are to meet these demands is to remain in good health-both mentally and physically.

How often have you heard someone say “I am far too busy – I don’t have time to be sick”? The irony is that if you don’t look after yourself you will suffer some illness and then have plenty of time on your hands whilst try to recover from your stress attack.

The link between health, physical activity and well-being is well established. Unfortunately, many individuals are intimidated by the thought of regular physical activity and have the misconception that achieving and maintaining fitness requires a complicated time commitment or vigorous exertion. This is not the case at all.

Arthritis occurs across all age groups in community and there are various types including inherited and inflammatory causes of joint pain, but the most common arthritis we discuss is osteoarthritis. Whilst there are many predisposing factors towards the development of osteoarthritis, particularly in weight bearing joints, the end result is primarily the loss of the protective cushioning cartilage (articular cartilage) over the ends of the bone surfaces resulting in less impact protection and break down of the cartilage cells causing joint swelling, inflammation and pain. Predisposing factors include genetics, joint injury, alignment issues and other potential factors which will be discussed in an accompanying article.

Concussion in sport continues to be in the news in 2020 and its’ prevention and management continues to be an evolving and ongoing challenge. The historic revelation in February 2020 that former AFL legend player Polly Farmer has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) following post mortem examination of his brain last year has further ignited the ongoing debate. Farmer died in 2019 at aged 84 and in the later part of his life suffered from debilitating mental dysfunction which had been diagnosed as alzheimer’s disease.

Jet lag is a topic that has been a subject of discussion for many decades. Its’ affects are highly individual and variable in most people, but in general terms the condition relates to fatigue and difficulty sleeping when an individual travels to another time zone. It results from the disturbance of the natural body biorhythms which control our day/night and wake/sleep cycles. In most circumstances individuals do not experience jet lag symptoms unless they travel through time zones which are more than 3 hours minimum difference from their home destination.

Whilst there is no doubt that the term “Men’s Health” has been around for many years, in more recent times there has been a more intense focus on this field. Not only taking in the important physical aspects of health, but with the real shift in our thinking to include a more broad overview including mental and emotional health. This has been emphasised by the increased awareness and publicity surrounding the rising incidents of mental health issues in the community generally.

There is an age old argument as to whether men or women are better at certain performance areas in life. This argument will probably never be solved across the dinner table, however when it comes to physical performance and sport there are some undeniable physical and physiological differences between male and females that ultimately impact on performance results.