Following on from our last Blog on Back Pain, by Mark Williams, I thought it would be a good idea to highlight how Pilates can help to prevent/improve back pain and improve posture

At Bodyline Fitness we run three specific Pilates classes every week and our class schedule can be found here http://bodylinestudios.co.uk/yoga-pilates-classes-in-ealing-west-london/

Pilates exercises strengthen your stomach and lower back muscles as well as improving your posture so why wouldn’t you want this form of exercise included in your work-out?

 Reasons to include Pilates, or at least Pilates type exercises within your workouts:

• Pilates is much more likely to help you reduce your waistline than doing conventional sit-ups
• Pilates will strengthen your lower back, helping to prevent possible future injury
• Pilates will increase your core strength so you can lift more weights, run further, cycle harder etc
• Pilates will improve your posture, making you look and feel taller

Pilates will improve your balance and stability; this can help you with any sports you play, especially activities like Tennis and ski-ing

So, if you currently attend a Pilates class, Well Done! and please keep going (even if it isn’t with us at Bodyline!) If you don’t currently attend a class find your nearest one and give it a go.

If you don’t attend a specific Pilates class, but have Personal Training then please speak with your Personal Trainer to make sure you are incorporating some kind of Pilates within your Personal Training sessions.

If you attend a Pilates class or have had experience of Pilates within your Personal Training sessions please do leave a comment at  the bottom of the page about your feelings on Pilates and how it may have helped you with your health and fitness.

If you would like more information please visit our website http://bodylinestudios.co.uk/  or if you have any questions please give me a call directly, Roy Summers 07921 777477.

In this latest Blog, Mark Williams, Personal Trainer at Bodyline Fitness, gives us a few stats about lower back pain and a couple of simple ideas to help ease it.  If anything Mark talks about here makes you think, why not contact him for a free consultation and postural assessment? Mark’s details are shown at the end of the Blog.

Lower back pain is the second highest reason in the UK for people being off work, it’s estimated that at anyone  time 4.4 -33% of the adult population are suffering with back pain and that 49% of the population will suffer with a back ache for at least 24 hours in the course of a year and it’s also estimated that 90% of people who go to see a health care specialist initially will stop seeing them after 3 months and just learn to live with the pain but have relapses periodically.

Now I know that’s quite a lot of stats to take in so to explain it in simple terms, either you are a sufferer of back pain or someone you know is, and you or them will see your GP or an Osteopath, follow their advice for a short while until it helps and when your back pain re-occurs you will either just take pain killers and live with it or you’ll go back to your health care practitioner and repeat the cycle and not follow the advice they gave you the first time again.

Fortunately most people who do suffer from lower back pain can do something themselves to find a long term solution, a large percentage of the time your pain will be down to poor posture, simply making sure your seat at work is set to the right height will put less pressure on your neck and back, which in turn will place less pressure on your back.

Even how you drive will help you correct any back problems you may have, we (admittedly mostly men) tend to drive with our seats leaning all the way back because apparently it looks cool……., this puts a lot of pressure on the lumbar region of our spines where if you simply raised your seat so your backs and thighs are set more towards 90 degrees this would take a huge amount of pressure off your back.

But it’s not just the men who do things on a daily basis that put huge amounts of pressure on our backs, ladies; wearing high heels will only put more pressure on your lower back. If you wore high heels less and wore flats occasionally this will place less pressure on your calf muscles and the benefits will help to ease pressure off your back.

The best way to make sure your back pain goes away and stays away is through constructive exercise and a postural assessment; a Personal Trainer or an Osteopath can easily do this for you and make sure you are doing the right things to maintain a healthy back.

You can contact Mark via the Bodyline Fitness Website contact page http://bodylinestudios.co.uk/contact/ or call him directly on 07917 632 765

In this Blog, Bodyline Fitness Nutritionist Emily Fawell asks: Do you start every New Year with the same resolution: to lose weight and adopt a more healthy lifestyle?

Are you worried that once again you won’t find the motivation to fulfil your goals? Are you dreading the restrictive diet and hunger pangs?

If so then maybe you should find out more about zest4life, a revolutionary nutrition and
weight loss programme, which teaches you how to eat for vitality and wellbeing; where
weight loss is a nice side effect to eating healthily; and where the goals that you set
yourself are realistic and motivating.

What is zest4life?

• A structured 11 week programme which places emphasis on realistic goal setting and measuring of progress
• A healthy, sensible approach to eating that guarantees vitality, energy and weight loss based on Patrick Holford’s Low GL Diet
• Classes are run by a nutritionally qualified, motivational coach who has successfully lost weight by following a low GL diet
• The programme emphasizes positive thinking and provides tools to enable you to determine what motivates you
• Classes are run in a small, friendly, supportive group setting where there is time for individual attention
• If this sounds like what you are looking for then why not come along to a one hour introductory seminar next week?

The seminars will be held on Wednesday 11th January 2012 at 10.30am in the Garden Room at The Pilot in Chiswick and at 7.30pm at Gurnell Leisure Centre, Ealing.

By attending the seminar you will:

• find out why balancing your blood sugar levels is vital for your health and energy levels, and why it is so important for weight loss
• understand which foods cause blood sugar imbalances
• undertake a health assessment to determine which areas of your health you need to focus on
• find out what sets zest4life apart from other weight loss programmes

West London zest4life participants are continuing to see great results: one has now lost three and a half stone, dropped 3 dress sizes, and has lost 29cm from around her waist!
Many more have lost in excess of one stone in just one 10 week term, and are seeing their body fat percentage drop, energy levels, digestion and mood improve.

Here are some quotes from zest4life participants:

“I’m amazed that such small changes have had such great results. I feel like I’m taking
control of my life again!” Steph, who has now lost 25cm from around her waist

“I can’t remember the last time I felt this good” Martina

“I’ve been taking part in Emily’ s zest4life programme for the last couple of months and
I just love it! The support and encouragement from Emily has really motivated me and
helped me to keep going when things have been difficult. The classes are great fun while
being really useful and informative!!” Fiona

Have a look at Emily’s website to read more amazing feedback from zest4life participants or to book your place on the next course:
http://www.4wellpeople.co.uk/pages/zest4life.php

If you too would like to lose weight, whilst gaining energy and vitality contact Emily at http://www.4wellpeople.co.uk/ to reserve a place at one of the seminars on Wednesday 11th January 2012 at 10.30am or 7.30pm.

The cost for the workshop is £10, which is deductable from the programme fee should you decide to sign up.

5 Habits To Help You Lose That Unwanted Weight For Good

In our first Blog of 2012 our Nutritionist, Jo Scott-Dalgleish, highlights 5 habits to help you with your new year nutrition. Please let me know what you think of Jo’s points, via the comments section at the end of this Blog, especially if you have any good tips that have worked for you in the past.

The New Year is traditionally the time when we try to make a fresh start. How many of you have eaten too much over the Christmas period, and resolve on January 1 that this time you are going to ‘lose that unwanted weight for good’, starting with a crash diet? Then when you return to our normal eating habits after a short period of dieting, you find that you put on weight more easily than before and actually end up heavier.

I’d like to offer you a solution to this rollercoaster of weight loss and weight gain. Don’t start a ‘diet’ this January. Instead, promise yourself that you will stick to the 5 resolutions below. If you do this for three months, not only should you see a gradual loss of weight  without having to count calories, but you will have succeeded in changing the habits that made you gain weight in the first place and created new ones in their place. And these new habits will be giving you so much more energy that you won’t want to give them up!

So what are the 5 new habits, and why should you resolve to follow them?

Habit 1: Always eat breakfast. A good breakfast enables you to raise your energy levels as soon as possible in the morning. It is important to eat carbohydrate foods such as porridge or wholegrain toast that release energy slowly over the course of the morning, It is also helpful to include a protein food with your breakfast, such as milk, yogurt, eggs or nuts, as this further slows down the release of energy from the carbohydrate you have eaten.

Habit 2: Plan a small snack for mid-morning and mid-afternoon. This helps keep your energy levels steady and to avoid the classic mid-afternoon slump, which can lead to grabbing the biscuit tin or a packet of crisps. Good ideas for snacks are a couple of oatcakes with a tablespoon of hummus, an apple with a small handful of nuts, or a plain bio-live yogurt with kiwi fruit.

Habit 3: Watch how much sugar you consume. Too much sugar plays havoc with your energy levels, and can lead to weight gain. Try to avoid not only the obvious sources of sugar, such as sweets, chocolate, cakes and biscuits, but also ready made meals, which are often high in hidden sugars. It’s also important not to eat too much fruit, which is high in a type of sugar called fructose. Fill up with 5-6 portions of colourful vegetables each day and choose small quantities of healthy savoury snacks such as nuts and seeds.

Habit 4: Reduce starchy carbohydrate portions with your evening meal (or avoid them altogether). Your body needs less energy in the evening, so excess food is more likely to be converted to fat than it is earlier in the day. For weight loss, it is particularly important to avoid eating potatoes, pasta, noodles and bread in the evenings. Try having your meat, fish, beans, lentils or tofu with three portions of vegetables, which can include half a sweet potato or a few cubes of butternut squash. If you need a starchy carbohydrate, choose 40g of brown rice, couscous or quinoa.

Habit 5: Plan your meals and snacks, and shop online if possible. Working out what you are going to eat for your meals and snacks at the start of the week, and doing a single shop for everything you need, means that you will be less tempted to make unhealthy choices on a day to day basis. Take a packed lunch to work if possible. Shopping online rather than visiting the supermarket can also help remove you from temptation, as you have to actively search for the foods you do need and don’t ‘see’ the foods that you don’t need.

Jo is a full member of the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT) and is registered with the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC).

• First and foremost, don’t stress if you can’t maintain your usual exercise routine during December, this time of year can be stressful enough as it is!

• Aim to achieve 50-75% of what you would normally do

• Go Ice Skating! It’s festive, fun and definately counts as an exercise session!

• Christmas shopping can be a very active experience and walking up and down the high street, carrying bags can count towards your activity levels

• The Christmas party-Enjoy it! Try to drink a glass of water inbetween each round of drinks

• Dance a lot at the party! Burn calories and tone up at the same time!

• The day after the Christmas party go for a long walk round the park or, if you have more time maybe a trip into the countryside

• Try a Christmas themed exercise class, this time of year a lot of aerobics teachers will run these types of classes. Zumba is really popular at the moment, why not try that??

• Try to do some exercise in-between Christmas and New Year to help keep a little routine and don’t think ” I’ll leave it till the new year”.

• Finally, don’t buy too many sweets and chocolates for the holiday period, if you haven’t got temptation in the house you can’t eat it!

I hope these tips can help you do your best to keep fit and healthy in the build up to Christmas and enjoy the festive season! If you have any ideas to add to this list please do make contact.

WANT TO BOOST YOUR IMMUNITY FOR WINTER…….??    

           10 TIPS THAT COULD HELP.

 There’s no doubt that autumn has arrived, and with it your chances of catching a cold or other infection generally rises, particularly if you are more stressed than usual or eating a poor diet. To fight off infections, your immune system needs to be ready to spring into action when it encounters viruses or bacteria: it’s your main line of defence against these nasties.

The good news is that much of what your body needs to keep your immune system strong can be found in foods, so try following these tips for a healthy autumn.

1.  Get as much vitamin C as possible by eating at least 3 portions of vegetables and 2 portions of fruit per day (ideally 6 veg and 3 fruit). Foods particularly high in vitamin C include broccoli, peppers, asparagus, kiwi fruit, strawberries, oranges.
2.  Zinc is critical for the work of the immune system. Try increasing the amount of egg yolks, almonds, cashews, turkey, lean red meat and oysters that you eat. They are all high in zinc.
3.  Include lots of garlic, onions, ginger and turmeric in your cooking. These ingredients are all anti-bacterial and anti-viral, so help to kill off infections. Try a home-made curry once a week.
4.  Keep your fluid intake up. 6-8 glasses of water each day is ideal. Mugs of herbal tea count towards this. Try lemon and ginger teabags if you have a cold, or simply add a slice of fresh ginger to hot water.
5.  The anti-oxidant nutrient beta-carotene is a great immune booster. It’s found in orange and dark green coloured foods. Try eating more sweet potatoes, carrots, mango, apricots, butternut squash, spinach, broccoli and watercress.
6.  Eat plenty of eggs, nuts, onions and garlic. These all contain cysteine, an amino acid that plays a key role in the immune system.
7.  Have more cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, pak choi, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. These all include lots of the infection-fighting phytonutrients which help boost your immune function. Try steaming rather than boiling the vegetables to help preserve their nutrient content.
8.  Add parsley to foods, especially soups, stews and baked fish. Parsley contains a range of compounds that help to stimulate the immune system.
9.  Vitamin E stimulates the production of immune cells. Get more vitamin E by eating almonds, avocados, oats, seeds and brown rice.
10.  Cut back on alcohol (sorry!). Excess alcohol means depriving your body of valuable immune boosting nutrients, as they are used by your liver for detoxification instead.

If you regularly experience colds and other infections, you may find a programme of nutritional therapy beneficial. This seeks to optimise your metabolism through diet and nutritional supplementation, and may involve functional testing. To find out more, please call nutritional therapist Jo Scott-Dalgleish on 07825 447105 or email her at nutritionsolutions@live.co.uk.

At Bodyline Fitness we run three specific Pilates classes every week, and as a Personal Trainer and Pilates Teacher, I use Pilates in every single Personal Training session I take.

Pilates exercises strengthen your stomach and lower back muscles as well as improving your posture so why wouldn’t you want this form of exercise included in your work-out?

 Reasons to include Pilates, or at least Pilates type exercises within your workouts:

• Pilates is much more likely to help you reduce your waistline than doing conventional sit-ups
• Pilates will strengthen your lower back, helping to prevent possible future injury
• Pilates will increase your core strength so you can lift more weights, run further, cycle harder etc
• Pilates will improve your posture, making you look and feel taller
• Pilates will improve your balance and stability; this can help you with any sports you play, especially activities like Tennis and ski-ing

In this short  Blog, Jo Simons of Ealing Reflexolgy, highlights the benefits of Reflexology for Stress and general health benefits.  Below, Jo just gives a very brief introduction to reflexology and there is also an endorsement from me, Roy, and another of Jo’s clients.

Stress is caused when the body goes beyond its natural ability to cope and can cause physical effects such as heart disease, pain, headaches, reduced immunity and gastrointestinal problems.

Just one session of Reflexology may help you relax, improve your mood, aid sleep, relieve tension and improve your overall sense of well-being.  It encourages the body to work naturally to restore its own healthy balance, facilitating healing and optimal health.

You may also find you gain relief from a range of health issues including back pain, stress related conditions, hormonal imbalances and digestive disorders.

The physiological reactions to long term stress do harm, so if reflexology can help prevent or  reduce this – it has to be positive!

To find out a little more I visited Jo recently for my first-ever Reflexology treatment and was amazed that, just a few minutes into my treatment Jo identified two areas of my body where i had injury and stiffness. Apart form that it was an incredibly relaxing 45 mins; my advice is not to book anything for a couple of hours after a treatment as you will leave Jo feeling very relaxed!

Julia also visited Jo to help her lower backache and stress levels caused by her work and family commitments.  

“  I cannot stress enough how effective reflexology has been on improving my lower backache and stress levels.  It was painful and stiff every day.  Now after seeing Jo, I hardly have any pain.  I  am also more relaxed, less stressed and more in tune with my body .” 

If you would like to find out more than click here http://www.ealingreflexology.co.uk  or contact Jo  on 07798 924636 or jo@ealingreflexology.co.uk

Once again, at Bodyline Fitness, we have teamed up with Chiswick based Nutritional Therapist Jo Scott-Dalgleish and in this Blog we have offered you a quick, easy to read guide to maintaining energy levels throughout your day.

1. Always eat breakfast. Include a slow burning starchy food like oats or rye bread, and a source of protein such as yogurt or eggs.

2. Plan a mid-morning snack, such as 2 oatcakes with 2 tsp of hummus or nut butter.

3. Don’t leave lunch too late; before 2pm is a good idea. Never leave more than 4 hours between meals or snacks to keep your energy levels up.

4. Include a wholegrain starchy food in your lunch such as wholegrain bread, brown rice, quinoa or couscous. These foods are high in B vitamins, needed to make energy.

5. Eat more foods containing magnesium, also needed to make energy. Magnesium is found in wholegrains (see above), nuts, seeds, beans, lentils and green leafy vegetables such as broccoli.

6. Plan a mid-afternoon snack to prevent the common 4pm energy slump. A piece of fruit with  8-10 nuts is ideal. Or try a raw food bar, such as a Nak’d bar or 9 Bar.

7. Keep caffeine, eg coffee, black tea, colas, to a minimum; caffeine gives a short term energy boost only. Excess caffeine may contribute to long term energy depletion. Try herbal teas, green tea or decaffeinated coffee, especially from lunchtime onwards.

8. Only have foods high in sugar, eg cakes, biscuits, chocolate, pastries, as an occasional treat. Like caffeine, sugar gives a short term energy boost but may be damaging in excess (to your waistline too!).

9. Take regular exercise, around 30 mins a day, 5 days a week. Exercising in the fresh air may be particularly beneficial if you are feeling sluggish.

10. Drink around 1.5 to 2 litres of water, about 6-8 glasses spread throughout the day. Being dehydrated may contribute to fatigue.

If you regularly experience low energy, you may find a programme of nutritional therapy beneficial. This seeks to optimise your metabolism through diet and nutritional supplementation, and may involve functional testing. To find out more, please call Jo on 07825 447105 or email nutritionsolutions@live.co.uk.

Why have Deep Tissue massages?

Since the turn of the New Year we have seen a real increase the number of people coming to Bodyline Ealing for Sports /Deep Tissue Massage. So, I thought it would be a good idea to highlight, once again, the benefits of these types of Massages for the body.

In this Blog our Resident Massage Therapist, Berni Jennings highlights the benefits of Sports/Deep Tissue Massage for us all.

Massage, and in particular, deep tissue massage, can offer significant benefits both to people involved in sports and the general population.

 Massage can play a preventative role as it:

• Increases circulation within the body and this contributes to removal of waste materials via the lymph system and restoration of nutritional stores – massage, following a hard training session can promote a speedier recovery and can therefore contribute to increased quality and quantity of training.
• can assist in early identification of potential problems as pain is identified and treated.  Advice regarding posture or remedial exercises can be offered, thus contributing to injury prevention and a greater self-awareness of one’s body.
• can stretch some muscles further than usual joint range and so contribute to greater flexibility and a better technique.

Massage is particularly useful if specific injuries have developed as a result of either a trauma or over-use of particular muscles (through work/posture/sports) – Massage techniques:

•  break down excessive scar tissue and adhesions that can develop and limit function of muscles and massage can stretch muscles that could not be stretched in the usual methods
•  relax tight or damaged muscles – which enables the supply of oxygen and nutrients vital for repair to reach injured area and flushes away waste particles loosened by deeper techniques.  Relaxed muscles reduces the likelihood of secondary patterns of dysfunction occurring i.e. if you have a painful lower back, you may tense your muscles in your shoulders contributing to shoulder and neck pain
•  can complement other forms of treatment as all muscular-skeletal injuries have a soft tissue component eg following a fracture, massage in surrounding areas can reduce tension in adjacent muscles and contribute to a speedier recovery
•  promote relaxation thus reducing tension so offers physical and psychological benefits.

 Massage can therefore contribute to a full and speedy recovery.

 Overall, massage can contribute to an enhanced performance and sense of well-being, and this in turn assists us in living active healthy lives.

Berni can be contacted on 07773 502282 or via www.bodylinestudios.co.uk

If you have any questions or would like to book a Massage please do contact Berni; All Massages will take place in the treatment room at Bodyline Fitness Studio, Ealing W5 in a professional and safe environment.