from Fire Department Chronicles
Jason Patton, “I’m excited to announce that I have partnered with the Banyan Treatment Centers to create C.R.E.W. A program designed for First Responders.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with their mental health or substance abuse, please call: 888-926-4174“
Are Women’s Fitness Programs Outdated?
Celebrity Trainer Says Most Women Benefit From A Comprehensive Approach
A study indicating why British women don’t workout as much as they’d prefer surely reflects the sentiments of American women, says celebrity trainer Holly Perkins.
The research revealed that 75 percent of women in the United Kingdom want to exercise more, but they’re discouraged for fear of being judged by others. The women surveyed worried about how they would look while exercising in front of others, their inexperience in personal fitness and the idea that they’re putting themselves first, ahead of their children.
“Whether she’s a stay-at-home mom, a busy executive or somewhere in the middle, these are concerns most women have about fitness,” Perkins says. “I believe this reflects their self-image, and it’s a shame that so many women live their lives short-changing themselves.”
Even today, most fitness programs women come across neglect important parts of the average woman’s mindset, she says. Many gyms have spinning and other classes targeting women, but they lack the comprehensive aspect so many women are searching for, she says.
“There are plenty of women who frequent gyms, but I think the culture of most of those places are framed by a male-dominated attitude, which is more comfortable blocking out ‘gym time’ in their schedule,” says Perkins, who recently released a home-exercise system designed specifically for women called baladea (www.baladea.com), with regimens she developed to fuse fitness and wellness exercises.
“I believe a woman’s attitude craves a more holistic approach, one in which overall well-being is factored into a how-to lifestyle program.”
Perkins describes what works for women in a fitness program.
• Fun. “No pain, no gain” is definitely a man’s attitude. As women, we are not afraid of a healthy muscle burn, sweating and commitment – we’re designed to carry babies for nine months, and then deliver them, after all. However, we are much more relationship-oriented, and we thrive in positive feelings. The way to a woman’s heart in fitness is fun.
• Purpose. For men who workout, the activity is almost a purpose in itself. There is a sense of accomplishment in lifting heavy weights and “gettin’ it done.” Women want to shine; we want to look and feel like we never felt possible. We want to be in touch with who we are, and fitness synergized with overall well-being can do that.
• Steps. It’s good for anyone starting a fitness program to have a blueprint for what they’d like to achieve, and steps for improvement along the way. For those who are inexperienced, an introduction and detailed plan enables time for the mind to ease into the process. Confusion or uncertainty is a waste of energy, and implementing new workout phases allows women to maximize our effort.
• Synergy. If you think women don’t need weights, think again. Resistance band training increases your power and revs your body’s fat-burning engine. We also want to be lithe, supple and physically elegant. Yoga helps us reshape trouble zones, and something I call “flow” optimizes flexibility and beautifies posture. And, when we are done, we can enjoy a calm that reinforces our motive for inner and outer beauty, leaving us with an energizing relaxation.
About Holly Perkins
Holly Perkins is a national fitness expert and developer of baladea (www.baladea.com), a customizable fitness and wellness system for women. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), one of the most prestigious certifications in the industry. She believes that making fitness a fun lifestyle is the best way to achieve true change. As one of the nation’s leading weight-loss experts and a highly sought-after celebrity trainer, she has been featured in numerous magazines, newspapers and on national TV shows.
Neurosurgeon Recommends Building Muscle as
Best Protection Against ‘the Disease of Aging’
Offers 5 Exercises for a Solid Strength-Building Regime
If you want good health, a long life and to feel your best well into old age, the No. 1 most important thing you can do is strength-training, says Dr. Brett Osborn, author of “Get Serious, A Neurosurgeon’s Guide to Optimal Health and Fitness,” www.drbrettosborn.com
“Our ability to fight off disease resides in our muscles,” Dr. Osborn says. “The greatest thing you can do for your body is to build muscle.”
He cites a large, long-term study of nearly 9,000 men ages 20 to 80. After nearly 19 years, the men still living were those with the most muscular strength. (BMJ, formerly British Medical Journal, 2008).
Muscle is all protein – “nothing but good for you,” Dr. Osborn says.
Fat, however, is an endocrine organ, meaning it releases hormones and other chemicals. When a person has excess fat, he or she also a disrupted flow of excess biochemicals, which can increase insulin resistance and boost risk factors for stroke and high blood pressure, among other problems.
“Increased cytokines, an immune system chemical, for example, are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Osborn says. “You’re only as old as your arteries!”
Strength-training has health benefits for everyone, he adds, no matter their size.
“Some fat is visceral fat – it’s stored around the organs and it’s even more dangerous than the fat you can see,” he says. “People who look thin may actually be carrying around a lot of visceral fat.”
So, what’s the workout Dr. Osborn recommends?
“Back to basics,” he says. “These five exercises are the pillars of a solid training regime.”
• The squat is a full-body exercise; it’s the basic movement around which all training should be centered. Heavy squats generate a robust hormonal response as numerous muscular structures are traumatized during the movement (even your biceps). Standing erect with a heavy load on your back and then repeatedly squatting down will stress your body inordinately – in a good way — forcing it to grow more muscle.
• The overhead press primarily activates the shoulders, arm extenders and chest. Lower body musculature is also activated as it counters the downward force of the dumbbell supported by the trainee. From the planted feet into the hands, force is transmitted through the skeletal system, stabilized by numerous muscular structures, most importantly the lower back.
• The deadlift centers on the hamstrings, buttocks, lumbar extensors and quadriceps, essentially the large muscles of your backside and the front of your thighs. As power is transferred from the lower body into the bar through the upper body conduit, upper back muscles are also stressed, contrasting with the squat, which is supported by the hands. Deadlifts are considered by some to be the most complete training exercise.
• The bench press mostly targets the chest, shoulders and triceps; it’s the most popular among weightlifters, and it’s very simple – trainees push the barbell off the lower chest until the arms are straight. This motion stresses not only the entire upper body, but also the lower body, which serves a stabilizing function. This provides a big hormonal response and plenty of bang for your buck.
• The pull-up / chin-up stress upper body musculature into the body. A pull-up is done when hands gripping over the bar; a chin-up is where hands are gripping under the bar. Nine out of 10 people cannot do this exercise because most simply haven’t put in the effort. It’s also been called a “man’s exercise, which is nonsense,” he says. There are no gender-specific exercises. Women, too, should aspire to enjoy the health benefits entailed with this pillar.
“There are no secrets to a strong and healthier body; hard work is required for the body that will remain vital and strong at any age,” Osborn says. “Always practice proper form and safety. Otherwise, the result will be the opposite of your goal, an injury.”
About Dr. Brett Osborn
Brett Osborn is a New York University-trained, board-certified neurological surgeon with a secondary certification in anti-aging and regenerative medicine, Diplomate; American Bard of Neurological Surgery, Diplomate; American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. He holds a CSCS honorarium from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Dr. Osborn specializes in scientifically based nutrition and exercise as a means to achieve optimal health and preventing disease. He is the author “Get Serious, A Neurosurgeon’s Guide to Optimal Health and Fitness,” www.drbrettosborn.com.
a guest post by LK Hunsaker
The current trend in romance novels is for the heroine to be strong, independent, and usually feisty to some extent. It makes sense, since women have found their voices and are taking every advantage of their newly broken barriers. These days, you’re liable to hear a woman talking more like a sailor, excuse the cliché, than even male sailors talk. I’m not so sure public swearing is a step in the right direction, but of course the freedom to do so very much is.
But what defines a woman as strong and independent? Does she have to be vocal, headstrong, and have it all together? Does she have to be dominant over her partner? Does she have to make a good living or be her own boss? Does she have to be self-assured?
I don’t think a strong woman must be any of those things. She can be, but she doesn’t have to be. Sometimes strength, true strength, means that despite her quiet nature, her tendency to take the path of least resistance, her disorganized barely-paying-the-bills daily life, and her constant fight against her doubts, she keeps stepping out that door, going to that dead-end job, watching for other paths, and giving it her best try.
Vulnerability that doesn’t give up is true strength. Independence is making the choice to be who you are despite the current trends, even when it looks for all the world as though you’re behind the times or lack confidence. Sometimes confidence, true confidence, means accepting you aren’t and don’t want to be one of the crowd because it doesn’t work for you. Stepping away from the crowd, knowing you’re bucking the trend and will be considered a fringe element and unusual and often fully overlooked in favor of those floating with the tide takes true strength. I love those heroines, the ones with cores of steel hidden by a gentle, non-abrasive exterior. It takes real strength to be gentle and kind. Men are finally learning this in recent times. We women must remember it, as well.
Strength can mean a lot of things, as Delaney tells Eli about rescue in Shadowed Lights, my newest release featuring a very strong social phobic heroine.
AUTHOR BIO
Ella M. Kaye is a pen name for author LK Hunsaker’s shorter, spicier romance line featuring dancers of various genres in lighthouse settings. They focus on the darker side of life, with such themes as devastating injury, destruction, and emotional trauma. At the end, though, there is always a light.
Website/Blog: www.ellamkaye.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6952444.Ella_M_Kaye
When her sister loses her house to Hurricane Sandy, Delaney Griffin welcomes the family into her home. Months later, with five noisy kids and an overbearing brother-in-law threatening her sanity, Delaney spends much of her free time at the wildlife refuge, which also works as her refuge. Still, the lack of privacy, along with space to dance, her only passionate release, causes her debilitating social anxiety to escalate.
Eli Forrester has come from small town Indiana to Barnegat, New Jersey with his company to help restore the coast. A high rise worker who loves new people and new places, he fears nothing, except water. When he accidentally kicks one of the sea critters Delaney is trying to help rescue, he is drawn to the quiet New Jersey girl. Unwilling to take her cues to leave her alone, Eli is alternately put off and turned on by her odd behavior.
Under shadow of devastation, fear, and forced separation, Delaney and Eli search for their own rescue light
Davie feels an equal attraction, but she is not an average 20 year old. When Adam makes his move to take her to bed, she confesses that she is still a virgin. His reaction is the exact opposite to what she might have expected; he is not thrilled that he is her first. In fact he pulls away in shock and says he will not make love to her. Then he gets out of the bedroom as fast as he can.
Davie is humiliated and angered, assuming that her lack of experience had been a turn off for him.
Adam is still attracted to her and tries to smooth the troubled situation between them, but she is not willing to open up to him again. Adam has a dark secret that he has been hiding, but eventually his past catches up to him in his work place. He shares his secret with Davie and is shocked that she doesn’t turn away in disgust; instead she is supportive.
Then he learns that she has been hiding a secret too. They both have deep emotional wounds, and together they help each other come to terms with the problems that have created turmoil in their lives. Their commitment to each other gives them the courage to face their problems and make a new life.
I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced, full of twists and turns, mystery, danger and tragedy. I cared for these two characters. I was reminded again that sometimes people have no control over the circumstances in their lives and without love and support from family and community, they flounder in shame and fear.
Don’t miss a great read. I’ll be looking for more books from Chelle Cordero.
AUDIO, PRINT, and ALL ELECTRONIC EDITIONS
BUY LINKS
AUDIO – http://www.amazon.com/Courage-of-the-Heart/dp/B00DQYAM2S
Courage of the Heart is narrated and produced by Raquel Gliss, professional voiceover artist and narrator in her early 40’s specializing in the narration of romance and erotic novels.
And if you decide to use the Amazon-exclusive Audible.com 30-day free trial membership it includes:
PRINT – http://www.amazon.com/Courage-Heart-Chelle-Cordero/dp/193540718X
Kindle – http://www.amazon.com/Courage-of-the-Heart-ebook/dp/B001PO5RJE
AllRomance Ebooks – https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-courageoftheheart-17784-149.html
Smashwords for All Ereaders – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1553
Payloadz Instant Download – http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=853573
Gloria Antypowich
A Potpourri of Promos, Book Talk, Entertainment & Articles of Interest from Chelle Cordero 