Lourdes Wellness Center is sponsored by Our Lady of
Lourdes Health System,
a Ministry of the Franciscan
Sisters of Allegany, NY.
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This Month's
Featured Article
Cosmetic
Acupuncture
Sheri McLellan - Krauss, Lic.
Ac., M.Ac.
Is your skin sagging, wrinkling
or lacking luster?
Do you want to prevent wrinkles before they occur?
Are you looking for a natural alternative to Botox or plastic
surgery?
Cosmetic Acupuncture may be
your answer.
Cosmetic Acupuncture can:
-
eliminate fine lines
-
lessen deep wrinkles
-
firm sagging skin
-
improve skin tone
-
tighten pores
-
eliminate puffiness
-
reduce double chins
-
promote overall health
-
slow down the aging process
Course of Treatment
-
The course of treatment is 10 visits with
best results achieved with two sessions per week for five weeks.
-
Each visit is approximately one hour and
fifteen minutes and includes an herbal mask.
-
Individuals will respond differently to
treatment depending on age and lifestyle.
-
Visible results will often be seen by the
seventh treatment.
-
Maintenance may be needed once per month.
An Alternative Treatment
Cosmetic Acupuncture is not
a replacement for surgery or botox injections; however it is an excellent
natural alternative. It is less costly and a safer treatment. It is
painless and has no negative side effects; there is no trauma inflicted on the
body and there is no need for recovery. There is no risk of disfigurement and
you can stop with no ill effects if it does not suit you.
According to Dr. Rassouli of
the Cosmetic Acupuncture Clinic of Toronto, “This procedure is just one stage
before Botox in terms of effectiveness. It is an excellent alternative to
cosmetic surgery, 100-percent natural, and free of side effects.”
Botox works as a nerve
poison, paralyzing the area for up to four months. The toxin, however, does not
change the appearance of pouches and wrinkles, and there are unanswered
questions about the long–term effects of having Botox in the body. As tales of
botched Botox injections spread - at least four Botox recipients now seriously
ill with botulism – Cosmetic Acupuncture as a non-toxic technique is proving to
be ever more alluring.
Most people who choose
Cosmetic Acupuncture are those who would not choose Botox for personal or health
reasons, as a beauty enhancement option. Many of these clients do not have
the time to endure a recovery period with swelling, discoloration and
scarring. Furthermore, they prefer a more natural result versus a more frozen
or altered appearance. There is also the argument that Cosmetic Acupuncture,
like traditional acupuncture, takes a holistic approach to treatment, so not
only do eyebrows unfurrow, but you feel better overall. You're sleeping better,
you've got more energy and better digestion... Cosmetic Acupuncture is not just
skin-deep.
Lourdes Integrative Wellness
Center
Lourdes Wellness Center
proudly announces the opening of the new Lourdes Integrative Wellness Center (LIWC)
in Burlington County, located at 45 Homestead Drive, Columbus, NJ. Now
Burlington County residents will have more opportunities to reduce stress and
improve their quality of life. Lourdes Integrative Wellness Center (LIWC)
currently offers individual massage, foot reflexology, and acupuncture
appointments as well as yoga classes. Plans are underway to offer cosmetic
acupuncture and informational wellness sessions.
Lourdes Wellness Center,
located at 900 Haddon Avenue in Collingswood, is a department of Our Lady of
Lourdes Medical Center sponsored by Our Lady of Lourdes Health System, a
Ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, NY. In 1979 Lourdes was the
first hospital in Southern New Jersey to develop and offer a program to its
employees and the community. Lourdes Wellness Center’s goal is to help people
become more aware of their lifestyle choices and to provide opportunities to
improve their overall well being. The commitment of Lourdes to a wellness
lifestyle was an extension of its mission and general education philosophy. The
most unique aspect of the Lourdes Wellness Program is the emphasis on the
spirituality component of wellness. At Lourdes Wellness Center, we believe that
mind, body and spirit are essential and powerful elements throughout the
wellness journey.
“We try to help people make
small changes that lead to progressively healthier lifestyle choices and
integrate modalities that will relieve their stress and improve their well
being,” said Brenda Sorrentino, Director of Health, Education and Wellness at
Lourdes Wellness Center. “We help our clients find fun and creative ways to
reduce their stress, manage pain, lose weight, quit smoking, get moving, gain
energy, improve their health, and find peace.”
“We believe that an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure.” continues Sorrentino. “We conduct
screenings and educate our clients to identify potential problems and improve
their wellbeing. Alleviating stress is an important component of the wellness
program at Lourdes. While exercise is great for the body and known to relieve
stress, Lourdes offers lifestyle counseling and a wide variety of classes and
modalities that incorporate deep breathing and meditation to help individuals
improve their energy and take charge of their health. Our spirituality
offerings help our clients get in touch with their spirit, seek solutions to
life’s problems and find peace and meaning in their lives.”
“Our success would not be
possible without a highly qualified and motivated team of health care
professionals. All of our instructors and therapists are highly skilled and
certified in their area of expertise.”
“So far there’s been a lot
of excitement about the new Lourdes Integrative Wellness Center. Every facet of
Lourdes Wellness Center is growing and we plan to expand our Burlington County
class offerings and services in the near future,” said Sorrentino. “A quick
review of our classes, workshop and programs @
www.Lourdes Wellness Center.org
illustrates our desire to learn creative approaches for the ongoing wellness
odyssey. By sharing our story and our inner workings with others, we expand the
wellness movement from our little corner of the world to regions far beyond our
geographical parameters. We invite you to join us for an invigorating
exploration of mind, body and spirit.”
The address for
the new Lourdes Integrative Wellness Center is:
45 Homestead
Drive Columbus, NJ 08022
For a full listing of
classes, more information, or to schedule an individual session at either 45
Homestead Avenue, Columbus, NJ or 900 Haddon Avenue, Collingswood, NJ call
Lourdes Wellness Center at 1-856-869-3125.
You can also log onto our
website at www.lourdeswellnesscenter.org.
Tension Headaches
Tension headaches
usually start at the back of your head and move forward, covering your whole
head with a steady, dull pain.
Signs and Symptoms
-
The headache starts at the back of your head and spreads.
-
Dull pressure or a squeezing pain lasts from half an hour to
several hours or days.
-
Muscles in your neck, shoulders, and jaw are tight and sore.
-
Aching usually continues through the day.
-
Your headache does not feel worse if you move about
When you feel tense, the muscles in your shoulders, neck, and jaw
tighten up and press on blood vessels surrounded by nerves, making those nerves
send pain messages to your brain. Causes include the following.
-
Sitting too long or in an uncomfortable position
-
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
-
Low blood sugar
-
Food allergy
-
Not enough sleep; not enough fluids
-
Clenching your jaw or grinding your teeth
-
Pain that originates from other areas, such as your sinuses
-
Stress
-
Depression or anxiety
Your best treatment options are stress avoidance and stress
management which can prevent recurrence of tension headaches. Biofeedback, yoga,
and relaxation techniques can be quite effective for both acute relief and
decreasing headache frequency. Regular exercise can also reduce how often you
get a tension headache
Complementary and
Alternative Therapies
Main emphases of these therapies are muscle relaxation and stress
management
Nutrition
-
Replacing micronutrients depleted in times of stress is essential; the most
critical are the vitamins C, E, beta-carotene, B-complex, and the minerals
magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, manganese, and selenium. Magnesium (aspartate
or glycinate, up to 750 mg per day) is especially critical because of its
antispasmodic action.
-
Avoid caffeine.
-
Essential fatty acids can improve blood flow. Reduce animal fats and
increase fish. A mix of omega-6 (evening primrose) and omega-3 (flaxseed)
oils may be best (2 tbsp. oil per day or 1,000 to 1,500 IU twice a day).
-
Vitamin E: 400 to 800 IU/day may decrease muscle cramping.
-
Calcium/magnesium: 1,000/500 mg per day may help regulate muscle contraction
and relaxation.
Physical Medicine
You can do other things to avoid tension headaches or relieve
pain.
-
Biofeedback to control muscle tension.
-
Using small circular motions, press acupressure points at the web between
your thumb and index finger.
-
Practice gentle neck stretches to ease tightness.
-
Put an ice pack on your forehead. To increase the pain-relieving effect,
soak your feet in hot water at the same time.
-
Breathe deeply or try other relaxation exercises, such as yoga.
-
Get regular exercise, especially for your back and abdomen.
Acupuncture
An acupuncturist diagnoses headaches not as migraine, tension, or
sinus, but rather as conditions deriving from "energetic" imbalances. Headaches
are commonly seen and often successfully treated by acupuncturists.
The National Institutes of Health recommends acupuncture as a
treatment for headache. Acupuncturists diagnose tension headaches by paying
careful attention to the kidney and its associated meridians (bladder, small
intestine), as well as liver and gallbladder meridians. The physical location of
the headache also helps the acupuncturist to determine an appropriate treatment
plan, which (in addition to needling) may include lifestyle/dietary changes or
herbal remedies. While results from studies have been mixed, most researchers
agree that acupuncture is safe and that headache patients who wish to try this
therapy should not be discouraged from doing so
In conclusion, Tension headaches may keep occurring if you do not
treat the underlying causes. Exercise and stress reduction techniques will
definitely help in relieving your discomfort.
Supporting
Research
Berkow R. The Merck Manual. 15th ed. Rahway, NJ: Merck
Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories; 1987.
Blumenthal M. The Complete German Commission E Monographs.
Austin, Tex: American Botanical Council. Boston: OneMedicine; 1998.
Boline PD, Kassak K, Bronfort G, Nelson C, Anderson AV. Spinal
manipulation vs. amitriptyline for the treatment of chronic tension-type
headaches: a randomized clinical trial. J Manipulative Physiol Ther.
1995;18(3):148-154.
Walker L, Brown E. The Alternative Pharmacy: Break the Drug
Cycle with Safe Natural Treatment for 200 Everyday Ailments. Paramus, NJ:
Prentice Hall; 1998.
Health and Wellness
Brenda Sorrentino,
RN, MA
At Lourdes Wellness Center,
the mind, body and spirit are considered essential and powerful in the healing
process and wellness journey. From its inception, the center has helped many
people – including nurses -- improve their lifestyle choices and reach their
potential. A rich history and eclectic mix of people, professionals,
philosophies, modalities, and experiences combine to produce a joyful, creative
and nurturing atmosphere
Founded by
a Nurse
In 1979, hospital
administrators asked Sister Helen Owens, OSF, RN, MSN, D Min to develop a
community health education department for Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center,
Camden, NJ. The department initially was housed within and devoted to hospital
employees, but after about a year the programs were offered to the community at
large. Sister Helen incorporated several ideas from community members when
implementing new programs for the health education department, which was renamed
Lourdes Wellness Center. Within the first years of operation, the center offered
workshops on nutrition, stress management and holistic health, along with
holistic retreats and prenatal classes. As the center’s reputation grew, more
instructors offered to teach classes resulting in a varied array of innovative
disciplines.
Nurses play a significant
role at Lourdes Wellness Center. In addition to being founded by a nurse, two
directors are nurses, and several nurses double as massage
therapists/instructors, aromatherapists, hypnotherapists, and Tai Chi
instructors. Nurses also conduct health education programs and health screenings
for the center.
An Array
of Services
Wellness classes are the
cornerstone of Lourdes Wellness Center. The center’s calendar of events
includes an array of healing themes that emphasize holistic living, integrative
healthcare, weight loss, wholistic nutrition, stress relief, Feng Shui, holistic
movement, and wellness spirituality events and retreats.
To many people, individual
sessions and somatotherapies might seem like an unaffordable luxury or a
frivolous expense. Lourdes Wellness Center offers these services at a
reasonable cost (Lourdes employees receive a 10% discount) in a relaxed, homey
atmosphere, to give more people the opportunity to experience the physical and
emotional benefits of these therapies. Certified therapists provide all
services, which include therapeutic massage, pregnancy massage, shiatsu,
Pfrimmer Deep muscle therapy, Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, CranioSacral therapy,
foot reflexology, polarity, One Brain, infant massage, medical and
rehabilitative massage, aromatherapy, healing stone therapy, hypnotherapy, and
acupuncture.
The Lourdes Institute of
Wholistic Studies is a comprehensive, spirituality-based holistic
certification/training program sponsored by Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center.
Located within the wellness center, the institute was founded in 1993 by
offering individual certification courses in massage and other modalities.
Today, the institute has expanded to include personal growth classes,
comprehensive certification programs and courses toward an associate’s degree in
applied science through an affiliation with Camden County College. College
course and continuing education credits are available for classes such as
aromatherapy, massage techniques, foot reflexology, Therapeutic Touch, Reiki,
Vibrational Healing, muscle testing, Chinese medicine, and Bach flower essences.
Back to Work
Corporate Wellness Programs
bring Lourdes message of health, wellness, and caring to the worksite. Under
the program, wellness services are custom-tailored for a company and presented
at the worksite or at Lourdes Wellness Center. Worksite wellness programs
include health screenings, workshops, weight-management programs,
smoking-cessation seminars, employee health fairs, and seated chair massage,
which has proven extremely successful in helping employees manage stress. Our
Lady of Lourdes Medical Center enlisted the services of the Corporate Wellness
Program for its recent Associate Wellness Day. Nurses and other hospital
employees enjoyed hand massage, aromatherapy, seated chair massage, Reiki,
Therapeutic Touch, and foot reflexology at the event.
Holistic Nursing Research
As further proof of the
medical center’s commitment to holistic medicine, Our Lady of Lourdes Ladies
Auxiliary is funding a seven-month research study on the effects of holistic
nursing on coronary artery bypass patients. Coleen Naylor, RN, HNC, a cardiac
rehab nurse who is conducting the research project, incorporates guided
relaxation/meditation, music therapy, hypnotherapy, diaphragmatic breathing,
Therapeutic Touch, Reiki, and aromatherapy with comprehensive pre-op, post-op
and pre-discharge education. The purpose of the study is to identify and
document patient responses, such as the decreased need for pain and sleeping
medications, lowered blood pressure, improved diuresis, improved ventilation,
increased patient satisfaction, and decreased length of hospital stay. The study
has just begun, but already patient outcomes have been promising, with some
patients asking to be treated by Naylor, who is known as “the magic nurse.”
A Refuge for Kids…
The Bridge is Lourdes
Wellness Center’s positive lifestyle support group for adolescents. It is a
place where teens gather to talk with their peers about problems and about life
in general. Weekly discussion groups are held in a living-room setting, where
teens discuss topics such as peer pressure, relationships, sexuality, family and
school issues, communication, substance abuse, and teen suicide. Teens help
facilitate the discussions, and their suggestions help determine the format of
future meetings.
… and Adults
The 50 Plus Program offers a
connection to better health and well-being through activities and services
designed specifically for mature adults. The 50 Plus Club members have access to
free health screenings, wellness workshops, seminars, trips, cruises, dinners,
discounted services from local businesses, and a free quarterly newsletter.
Integrative Healthcare
Lourdes Wellness Center also
offers several integrative services at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center. The
staff provides wellness education during the cardiac rehabilitation program,
massage therapy to patients, and a comprehensive lifestyle program for bariatric
surgery patients. Lourdes Wellness Center is also home to an integrative family
medicine physician, Ronald Ciccone, MD. Opening this integrative healthcare
practice enables Lourdes to combine the best of mainstream medicine and
alternative medicine to stimulate the body’s own healing process.
Brenda
Sorrentino, RN, MA, is director of Community Health Education and Wellness for
Lourdes Wellness Center, Camden, NJ.
Relax! All That Stress Can Kill You
Brenda Sorrentino, RN
Helen reached into her
pocket for her plastic ID card to swipe out at the end of her shift. Her fingers
closed around the controlled substance key chain. "Great," she mumbled, "I
almost took the drug keys home."
A nurse standing behind her
turned around "I’m sorry, did you say something?” she asked.
"Oh, no, just talking to
myself," Helen replied sheepishly.
The young nurse smiled
knowingly. “It’s the stress. I talk to myself too,” she confided. “This is my
second week as a graduate nurse. My preceptor helps me, but I'm overwhelmed at
times."
With 20 years of nursing
experience, Helen can relate to the stress of multitasking. Sometimes it nags at
her in the middle of the night. But because it’s so insidious, Helen doesn’t
realize the toll stress is taking on her body.
Stress has become a constant
part of our lives. It causes tight muscles in your neck, shoulders, back and
even your jaw. Your chest tightens, and breathing becomes quick and shallow with
poor airflow. It causes your heart rate and blood pressure to rise.
Acute stress initiates the
"fight or flight" response and is usually not harmful because it lasts only a
short time. But chronic stress can be a killer because it keeps the body under
constant strain and circumvents routine repair and maintenance. Chronic stress
causes strain on the heart and other vital organs, adrenal exhaustion, weight
gain, insulin resistance, and it predisposes us to diabetes, accidents, and
other diseases. A stressed body with taut muscles is more prone to injuries,
whereas a relaxed and conditioned body heals more quickly and thoroughly. High
blood pressure, headaches, backaches, digestive disorders, anger, anxiety,
frustration, depression, insomnia, and substance abuse are just a few of the
possible consequences of too much stress.
The good news is there are
multiple, easy-to-learn techniques that you can use to break the stress.
Holistic stress-management
modalities such as exercise, yoga, meditation, hypnosis, massage, and
acupuncture work well because they address the root cause and interrupt the dis-ease
cycle. The goal is to
recognize the symptoms of stress before they escalate and consciously activate
the parasympathetic nervous system to begin the relaxation response. You can
learn to do this by scheduling stress-management practice sessions into your
daily schedule.
A good stress breaker is
progressive muscle relaxation. Developed more than 30 years ago by a
cardiologist, progressive muscle relaxation is one of the best ways to isolate
and decrease tension. Once you’ve learned this technique, you can practice it
daily to keep tension from building up. Progressive muscle relaxation is best
practiced at home. Try to practice it at least a couple of times a week.
While at work, you can try
some deep or diaphragmatic breathing, shoulder shrugs, and head tilts to avoid
stress buildup throughout the day. By working with the various holistic
modalities daily, you will learn to recognize tension when it arises and be able
to release it easier.
Helen reached deep into her
pocket and retrieved her ID card. “You’re too young to have stress,” she joked
as she swiped her card.
“I wish,” the young nurse
sighed. “I wish.”
Brenda Sorrentino, RN, is
directory of Community Health Education and Wellness at Lourdes Wellness Center,
Collingswood, NJ. Karen White is at Kennedy Memorial Hospital, Williamstown, NJ.
10 Steps
to Relaxation
To practice progressive
muscle relaxation, you’ll need a quiet place so you can focus without
interruptions. Sit in a comfortable chair, and let your muscles soften as much
as you can. Close your eyes. Become aware of your breathing. Soon you will
notice that your breathing becomes slower and deeper as you relax.
Now, go through the
following steps slowly. Turn your focus to what’s happening to you internally,
and leave behind the world around you for a while.
1. Focus on your right
arm. Notice your forearm, your wrist, your hand, and your fingers. Now make a
tight fist with your right hand. Hold the tension for 30 to 60 seconds. Feel the
discomfort of tight muscles.
2. Think the word "relax,"
and release the tension in your fist. Be sure to note how different it feels now
vs. when you were making a fist. Take the time to become fully aware of that
difference: This is how relaxation feels.
3. Move your focus to the
left hand and notice how it feels compared with the right hand. You should feel
a difference. This is the beginning of the subtle awareness that will develop
gradually as you practice this technique.
4. Repeat steps 1 and 2
using your left hand.
5. Repeat steps 1 through
4. This time observe your breathing and notice whether you hold your breath when
you tense.
6. Now move to the major
tension areas -- your neck and shoulders. These muscles are often the first to
react to stress.
7. Pull your shoulders up
like you are trying to touch your shoulders to your ears. Feel the tension and
notice your breathing. Think "relax" and let your shoulders drop down. Feel the
difference.
8. Next, move to the neck
muscles. Tilt your head back until you feel the stress on the paraspinal
muscles. Hold that position, then relax and begin to bring your head forward
releasing the tension. You might even want to turn your head gently left and
right. Slowly turning your head and stretching the shoulder muscles is an easy
way to release tension.
9.
By now, you get the idea of progressive muscle relaxation. Continue to
tense and release muscles throughout your body until you reach your toes.
10.
Regular practice of this technique will help you become more aware of
tension as it starts to build.
Making Wellness A Way of Life
Yvonne Lombardo Brown,
Administrator, Our Lady of Lourdes Wellness Center
As we head into 2006, Americans are more sedentary
today than ever before. We have become a “push button society.” We park our
cars as close to the building as possible, choose meals that are quick and easy
to prepare, take the elevator instead of the stairs, and eat on the run. The
American lifestyle is making it more and more difficult to stay healthy.
All of these factors
prevent us from Making Wellness a Way of Life. If you have found
yourself in a similar situation – take comfort in knowing that it only takes
small changes in your lifestyle to make big improvements in your health.
Evaluate
Your Lifestyle
Take a look at the choices
that you are making each day of your life. These choices become your
lifestyle. Some factors are controllable, while others are hereditary and
uncontrollable. The key is to make changes in certain areas of your life to
improve your total health profile. Here are a few things to consider. Do you...
Have a family
history of heart
disease or cancer?
Smoke?
Have high blood
pressure?
Exercise?
Manage your
weight?
Manage your
stress?
Make time for
quiet time/meditation and/or prayer?
Invest your time
appropriately and
in line with your values?
Drink alcohol in
excess?
Get enough sleep?
Where
Do You Begin?
Start simple. Take a look
at your lifestyle and address areas of concern. Pay attention to all parts of
you: Body, Mind and Spirit. This wholistic approach is the key to success.
Approach
to Wellness: Body, Mind, and Spirit
Nourishment and care of the
human body are key elements to making wellness a way of life. Most Americans
could begin improving their health in one day by increasing their activity level
and by drinking more water. However, it is important to move beyond this and to
be proactive with your health. Pay particular attention to exercise,
wholesome/nutritious food, vitamin/mineral intake, sleep habits and weight
management.
Your mental and spiritual
wellness includes your thoughts, spirituality, emotions and feelings. It is
important to practice meditation, positive thinking and to strive for an overall
sense of inner peace, self-acceptance and self-trust. For emotional balance we
need to release positive and negative feelings, accept and demonstrate love and
allow joy and laughter in our lives.
Taking
Responsibility For Your Health
Just as Americans have become a “push-button” society, we
have also become a society that turns the responsibility of their health over to
the health care system. We have the power to create more wellness and balance in
our daily life by making healthy choices. We also have the power of choice in
health care. It is important for patients to find support networks, ask
questions and research their illness before visiting the doctor. Explore
integrative medicine and do your research so that you are able to ask questions.
According to Ronald Ciccone, MD, Integrative Family Medicine at Our Lady of
Lourdes Medical Center, Integrative Medicine combines the best ideas and
practices of mainstream and alternative medicine. “It neither rejects mainstream
medicine nor uncritically promotes alternative practices, but integrates the
most appropriate from both.”
Wellness is a journey. For more
information on how you can Make Wellness A Way of Life, please call Lourdes
Wellness Center at (856) 869-3125
Fitness For
Everyone
By Tina Ermert Bortner, BA, ACE
Community Health Educator
Moving towards a healthy longevity involves implementing healthy behavior
patterns. Regular and consistent exercise will not only help your heart stay
strong and work more efficiently, but it will give you the mental lift you need
to keep you energized and feeling great.
There are five components to fitness and applying them together will help you
achieve maximum fitness levels. But before getting started with these five
fitness essentials, a light 5-minute warm-up is required. The most effective
warm-up involves controlled, full-range movement (but at a lower intensity),
utilizing the muscles you plan on training. For example, if you intend on going
out for a run, a low-intensity walk is a safe and effective way to get the leg
muscles primed.
Cardiovascular endurance, which refers to
the utilization of oxygen by the heart, lungs, and body tissues, helps in
developing and maintaining an efficient cardio respiratory system, which in turn
can lessen the risk of heart disease. Exercising in your Target Heart Rate (THR)
zone will give you the maximum cardiovascular benefit that is needed to lower
your Resting Heart Rate (RHR) and to boost your metabolism for a more efficient
caloric burning potential.
Calculating your THR is easy to do. Simply, subtract your age from the number
220. The number you get is referred to as your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). Keep in
mind, it is important to stay below your MHR during exercise. Exceeding your
MHR, places a high level of stress on your heart and could lead to injury. The
next step in the calculation is to multiply your MHR by two different intensity
levels, 60 % and 80 %. This will create a safe and effective intensity range for
you to exercise in. If you are a beginner, aim for the low end of your THR.
However, if you are breathless and gasping for air, your body is telling you to
lower your exertion level even more. In this case, you will have to gradually
build up your level of fitness until you are physically fit enough to exercise
in your THR zone. On the other hand, if your body does not feel challenged
enough, pick up the intensity and aim towards the higher end of your THR. Using
a heart rate monitor will accurately and continuously track your heart rate
during your cardiovascular workout and will help you to stay within your THR
zone.
These devices are a great investment for your health and can be found in
sporting good stores and other retail establishments.
Muscular strength and muscular endurance
play an important role in slowing and even reversing the declines in strength,
bone density and muscle mass. Muscular strength is the most weight you can lift
in a single repetition, whereas muscular endurance is the most repetitions you
can perform with a given weight, while maintaining proper form. When done safely
and properly, lifting weights three times per week can help improve muscle
strength and muscle tone, posture, balance, and coordination. Furthermore, it
can help you maintain your independence by keeping you strong enough to perform
routine tasks of daily living without injury.
Body fat relates directly to muscle mass.
Weight training combined with cardiovascular conditioning will help increase
your muscle mass and lower your percentage of body fat. A healthy body fat range
is based on your age and gender. The body does require a certain amount of fat
so that the organs and tissues are cushioned and insulated and so that body
temperature gets regulated. If body fat is too high, you increase your risk of
heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and joint stress.
Flexibility, the ability to move a joint
through a full range of motion, provides a wide range of benefits. Stretching
your muscles prior to your work-out but after your warm-up is necessary in
preventing injuries. It is also important to stretch after your work-out to help
loosen the muscles and to prevent potential cramping. Stretching daily can
improve your posture, protect you from injuries related to daily activity, help
you move with greater ease during recreational activities, prevent lower back
problems, and promote relaxation. Regular exercise is both a physical and mental
uplift that corresponds with better health and improved morale. Fitness exists
in many forms and it is important to add variety to your routine to prevent
overuse syndrome or boredom. Lourdes Wellness Center offers a wide range of
group exercise classes that are sure to keep you motivated and committed to
fitness. Help reach your fitness goals by participating in Body Sculpting, Total
Body Work-out, Strength Training, Kickboxing, Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi and more !
For more information on these and other wellness offerings, please contact
Lourdes Wellness Center at 856-869-3125.
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