What you need to know about your pelvic floor...

Hi all, Mark here again from Alltone Fitness personal training studio and BNG Boot Camp Greensborough.

Did you know that a large number of exercises can negatively affect your pelvic floor, and some of these can actually harm these muscles? This can lead into bladder or bowel control problems. This is very common amongst men and women however most people are too embarrassed to talk about it or believe as we age that it is normal. Well it's not, and fixing this problem could be as easy as strengthening your pelvic floor. Women on average suffer more than men, with one in three who have ever had a baby experiencing urinary incontinence. Over half the people with bladder problems don't seek help from a health care professional.

The pelvic floor muscles form the base of the group of core muscles known as the core. The pelvic floor work with these deep core and lower back muscles along with the diaphragm, to stabilise and support the spine as they maintain pressure within the abdomen. The pelvic floor muscles support the bladder and bowel in men, and the bladder, bowel and uterus in women.

People who are more at risk of pelvic floor problems are, pregnant women, women who have had a baby, women who are going through or gone through menopause. For men, any surgery undergone for prostate cancer can make them more at risk. Other factors that put people at risk include those with a history of lower
back pain, an injury to the pelvic region, suffer regular constipation, being overweight or regular heavy lifting. Individuals with pelvic floor problems can experience the following symptoms, leaking urine when they exercise, constantly needing to go to the toilet. finding it difficult to empty their bladder or bowel, pain in their pelvic area and accidently losing control of their bowel.

Safe cardio and resistance exercises for the pelvic floor.

Certain exercises place greater stress on the pelvic floor and should be avoided. There are a number of safe exercises which can be performed and are considered safe without placing excessive downward pressure on the pelvic floor.

Safe cardio exercises:
Walking, swimming, upright bike, cross trainer, low intensity water aerobics, low impact exercise classes.

Cardio exercises to avoid:
Running, jumping, star jumps, skipping, boxing, high impact exercise classes, sports that involve stop start running or sudden direction changes.

Safe resistance exercises:
Seated exercises like rows and shoulder press. Bicep curls and knee extensions. Dumbbell exercises on a swiss ball, partial swiss ball squats, glute bridge, cable flys, leg curls, incline wall pushups.

Resistance exercises to avoid:
Sit ups, crunches, leg raises, deep lunges, deep squats, jump squats, lifting heavy weights, lat pull down with heavy weights, leg press with heavy weights, deadlifts and any exercise where there is downward pressure on the pelvic floor.

How to train your pelvic floor. 
A method of training your pelvic floor muscles is to relax the muscles of the thighs, glutes and abs, then squeeze the muscle of your front passage like you are stopping the flow of urine. Now squeeze in the muscle around your back passage as if you are trying to stop passing wind. You should now feel the muscle in between your front and back passage lift up towards your pelvis. Become familiar with the feeling of those muscles activating before relaxing and letting go. This exercise is best performed sitting on the edge of a chair slightly leaning forward at the hips. It can also be performed standing or lying down. Aim to perform 3 sets of 8 repetitions.

If this is a problem for you please feel free to reach out as we can help construct an exercise program to help strengthen your pelvic floor. At Alltone Fitness we offer personal training in the Greensborough, Bundoora, Mill Park and Watsonia area. We also run boot camps and group fitness at the most affordable prices in Greensborough.

A Quick 101 Class On Nutrients

A Quick 101 Class On Nutrients  By Mark Frangiosa 

Hi all, Mark here from Alltone Fitness and BNG Fitness Boot camp. This week’s blog covers the important role nutrients play in our daily lives and why it is important to consume to right amount of nutrients. Lacking in certain nutrients can affect our exercise output thus stalling progress.

The science of nutrition involves studying nutrients in foods and the body’s handling of them. Even though nutrition is a relatively young science, we already know what nutrients are needed for an adequate diet and what foods provide them.

Nutrients are substances obtained from food that promote growth, maintenance and repair in our body. Below are the six classes of nutrients found in food. 

Carbohydrates – Protein – Fat   (These three nutrients provide us with energy to function and the                                                            ones I will be covering today)

Vitamins – Minerals – Water

1 gram of Carbohydrates equals to 4 cals

1 gram of Protein equals to 4 cals

1 gram of Fat equals to 9 cals.

CARBOHYDRATES

We store carbs as glycogen in our liver, this provides us with the most readily available source of energy. Glycogen assists in maintaining blood sugars and in muscles for use during rest and physical activity. Due to these energy stores being relatively limited we must consume the right type of carbs in sufficient quantities on a daily basis. Carbs are composed of three molecules being carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. They are found in many different forms such as sucrose, lactose and glucose just to name a few.

Quick overview: Carbs and Exercise

Glucose is the most readily available source of fuel for exercising.

Exercise reduces muscle and liver glycogen that’s why active people need an adequate carb intake to maintain and boost glycogen stores.

Stores must be continually refilled from dietary carbohydrates

PROTEIN  

Proteins are water soluble molecules that are made up of 20 amino acids and are like the body’s building blocks. Eight of the 20 amino acids are essential as they cannot be made in the human body so they must be consumed in our diet.  The functions of protein in our diet are many, we need it for the transport of lipoproteins and hemoglobin, protection against antibodies and blood clotting, it carries nutrients across cell membranes, maintains water balance, the growth and maintenance of cells and tissues and acts as an energy source.

We obtain protein from both animal and plant sources. Protein from animal sources are referred as complete proteins because it contains all the essential amino acids. Protein from plant sources usually

lack one or more essential amino acids, although when one or more plant sources are combined they can become complete sources. General recommended protein intake for active people who exercise regularly are 1.2 – 1.8 grams per kilo of bodyweight

Quick overview: Protein and Exercise

Protein is important for muscle growth and repair.

High protein intake assists muscle growth only if training is adequate.

DIETARY FAT.

Fat provides the body’s major store of energy. It is a molecule also composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen that is a sub category of compounds called lipids. Apart from providing energy, fat also has many other functions in the body. It assists in supplying the body essential fatty acids, it provides insulation and protection for structures and organs and the absorption and supply of fat soluble vitamin. The types of fatty acids are, Saturated, Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated and Trans Fatty Acids.

Saturated fats are generally animal fats, solid at room temp (lard, butter ). 

Monounsaturated  fats can be summarized as liquid or semi solid at room temp, they appear to decrease the risk of heart disease. Sources include nuts and seeds, avocado and olive oil.

Polyunsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature and sources include plants, fish, grains and cereals.

So there you go. I hope that has been informative and shed some light on the different types of nutrients and the role they play in our bodies. Apart from maintaining a balanced diet with adequate nutrients we should also take part in regular physical activity such as boot camp Greensborough, or outdoor group personal training to live a long and happy life.

Take care – Mark Alltone Fitness& BNGBoot Camp Bundoora, Mill park and Watsonia.