Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Great Post on Using a Scale in Weight Loss

Here is a wonderful article on not focusing too much on your weight while losing weight. Focus on eating well, exercise, how you feel, and sizes.
https://www.thrillist.com/health/nation/how-to-lose-weight-loss-tips-should-not-use-scale
If you need a personal trainer in New York City, send me a message!
Happy New Year!

Check out Pocket Guide to Fitness on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=louiza+patsis

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Bosu Ball Lower Abdominal Exercises

I may have posted about this in 2009, but here are some exercises I did today. I hope I will feel pain tomorrow, so I will know I worked out.

1. Sit in the center of the Bosu ball. Keeping your balance will use subtle abdominal and hip muscles. Hold onto the side of the Bosu ball. Bring up your bent legs and squeeze your lower abdominal muscles to move your bent legs up an inch or two. Repeat for four sets of ten repetitions.

2. Place your hands behind you, elbows bent, and extend your legs out to half a foot over the floor, and bring them back near you bent. Repeat for four sets of ten repetitions.

Saturday, September 03, 2016

Chest Stretches

Most of us are hunched forward toward our computer screens, televisions and cell phones every day. And most of us stretch our legs and back, but forget our chests. This affects posture and back muscle pain. I found a good page of some chest stretches. See the link below.

I recently had an experienced Mercer Street NYSC personal trainer stretch my chest. He used something that is a great idea: a Swiss ball! I placed my hands behind my head while he went behind me and pulled back on my elbows as I exhaled, with the Swiss ball between us! This allowed for my back muscles like rhomboids and trapezius to widen out and then go back, this followed by my pecs doing the same --  widening and then stretching back. This made the difference; I got a good stretch. Then, as when I do the same stretch for clients but use my knee (not on their spine) instead of a ball, he told me he'd stretch me further and I exhaled prior to prepare.

If someone is flexible and wants to stretch their back, using a Swiss ball on the floor and stretching back over it or placing their 90-degree-bent arm against the wall and stretching away from it will not be as much of an effective chest stretch as what he did with me.

Other stretches are best done with a partner. I will post more at another time. Let me know how you feel if you try these stretches!

http://www.wikihow.com/Perform-Chest-Stretches

Monday, August 22, 2016

How Yoga Benefits Patients with Mesothelioma

By Katherine Keys

Patients living with mesothelioma, the aggressive type of cancer most often caused by asbestos exposure, face a number of symptoms that range from mild to severe. Both the cancer itself and the treatments for it can cause pain, nausea, and fatigue. They also cause psychological effects, like fear, depression, and hopelessness.
While mesothelioma is unfortunately not curable for most patients, there are many treatments that can extend life and combat the symptoms of the cancer and chemotherapy used to treat it. These include a lot of natural and holistic strategies, including yoga. Many mesothelioma patients face fear and uncertainty. They may work with mesothelioma lawyers to get justice for the cancer likely caused by working conditions, but this can only provide so much relief. If you are struggling to cope, yoga may help.
Yoga for Pain
Pleural mesothelioma, the most common form of the disease, is the cancer of the tissue that lines the lungs. As the cancer grows in that tissue it presses against the spine and nerves. This can lead to significant pain for patients. Research has found that practicing yoga regularly can help relieve pain by improving the body and brain’s tolerance for it.
Any pain caused by mesothelioma, or even other kinds of pain that are less tolerable because you are ill, may be reduced by doing yoga several times a week. A qualified instructor can even tailor a yoga workout to meet your specific needs. If you are experiencing mostly back pain, for instance, there are certain poses that will help more than others.
Battle the Fatigue of Fighting Mesothelioma
The many effects of cancer on the body, not to mention the treatments, include fatigue. If you are struggling with mesothelioma you probably also struggle to do the things you used to because of being tired and having less energy. Just one session of yoga per week boosts energy levels and reduces feelings of fatigue. If you can work up to it, and your health care professionals give you the green light, more than one session per week can really help you to get your old energy back.
Manage Mood and Fight Fear
Living with a death sentence hanging over your head is a terrible thing to have to experience. Patients with terminal cancers like mesothelioma have to be brave in the face of being given a short life sentence. That can take a toll on the psyche and leave you feeling afraid, anxious, depressed, and alone. Time and again, yoga has been proven to help people manage these negative feelings and boost mood.
Many studies have demonstrated that there are positive psychological benefits of yoga, but some have focused specifically on cancer patients. In one study a group of cancer patients participated in yoga for several sessions and researchers found that they all experienced a reduction in stress and anxiety and reported having a better quality of life.
If you are battling mesothelioma, trying yoga could help you feel better and give you a valuable coping strategy. Be sure to work with a professional who can help you start doing yoga at a pace that is best for your current fitness and health level. Once you get started you will likely experience relief from symptoms and a better outlook on living.

If you have questions, contact katherine1@katherinekeys.com.

Check out Pocketguide to Fitness and myother books on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=louiza+patsis

How Yoga Benefits Patients with Mesothelioma

 By Katherine Keys

Patients living with mesothelioma, the aggressive type of cancer most often caused by asbestos exposure, face a number of symptoms that range from mild to severe. Both the cancer itself and the treatments for it can cause pain, nausea, and fatigue. They also cause psychological effects, like fear, depression, and hopelessness.
While mesothelioma is unfortunately not curable for most patients, there are many treatments that can extend life and combat the symptoms of the cancer and chemotherapy used to treat it. These include a lot of natural and holistic strategies, including yoga. Many mesothelioma patients face fear and uncertainty. They may work with mesothelioma lawyers to get justice for the cancer likely caused by working conditions, but this can only provide so much relief. If you are struggling to cope, yoga may help.
Yoga for Pain
Pleural mesothelioma, the most common form of the disease, is the cancer of the tissue that lines the lungs. As the cancer grows in that tissue it presses against the spine and nerves. This can lead to significant pain for patients. Research has found that practicing yoga regularly can help relieve pain by improving the body and brain’s tolerance for it.
Any pain caused by mesothelioma, or even other kinds of pain that are less tolerable because you are ill, may be reduced by doing yoga several times a week. A qualified instructor can even tailor a yoga workout to meet your specific needs. If you are experiencing mostly back pain, for instance, there are certain poses that will help more than others.
Battle the Fatigue of Fighting Mesothelioma
The many effects of cancer on the body, not to mention the treatments, include fatigue. If you are struggling with mesothelioma you probably also struggle to do the things you used to because of being tired and having less energy. Just one session of yoga per week boosts energy levels and reduces feelings of fatigue. If you can work up to it, and your health care professionals give you the green light, more than one session per week can really help you to get your old energy back.
Manage Mood and Fight Fear
Living with a death sentence hanging over your head is a terrible thing to have to experience. Patients with terminal cancers like mesothelioma have to be brave in the face of being given a short life sentence. That can take a toll on the psyche and leave you feeling afraid, anxious, depressed, and alone. Time and again, yoga has been proven to help people manage these negative feelings and boost mood.
Many studies have demonstrated that there are positive psychological benefits of yoga, but some have focused specifically on cancer patients. In one study a group of cancer patients participated in yoga for several sessions and researchers found that they all experienced a reduction in stress and anxiety and reported having a better quality of life.
If you are battling mesothelioma, trying yoga could help you feel better and give you a valuable coping strategy. Be sure to work with a professional who can help you start doing yoga at a pace that is best for your current fitness and health level. Once you get started you will likely experience relief from symptoms and a better outlook on living.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Moving through fear while knowing your body

After working out for years, you will know your body more:  What you can do without hurting yourself, when you need to rest, when you need to stretch. With this, you can push to dance, run, hike, swim farther each time. You will have a hump of fear for obstacles that you know are coming. You may look bad in front of others that are more advanced in a certain sport. With a commitment to get better, while loving and accepting yourself where you are at as whole and complete, you will gain in love and respect for yourself and strength for what life brings to you.

Check out Pocket Guide to Fitness and my other books on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=louiza+patsis

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Bosu Ball Squats

You can use a Bosu Ball for squats that work out the glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings, and that simultaneously engage your abdominal muscles for stability. Place the Bosu Ball on its soft, round side. Place each foot on its edges, on the same "line." Balancing engages the abdominal muscles.
Perform squats for four sets of ten repetitions. Place your arms straight out in front of you or cupped together in front of you for stability .

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Up and Down Body Weight Exercise for Abs and Legs

Bend your arms at 90 degrees in a grip in front of your chest. You can scoot a bit forward for this exercise, bending from your waist at about 45 degrees. Bend your legs 90 degrees at the knees. Bend the right knee to the floor while keeping your upper body and arms steady. Have your left knee join your right knee inches away. Bring your right knee up. Have your left knee join your right knee inches away. This is a brief squat position. Repeat the sequence until exhaustion. Stretch your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Swiss Ball for Stability -- Core Muscles

Grab a medium or large Swiss ball. Sit on it and keep it steady.  This works out your core and hip muscles. Alternate arms and legs: Bring up your right arm straight above your head and your left leg, bent 90 degrees at the knee inches above the floor. Switch arms and legs. Repeat for four sets of ten repetitions.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Plank Run

Here is another plank variation: Get in the plank position, with your back and hips aligned. Bend your knees as if running. For variation that works your oblique muscles more, bring your knee to the opposite hip bone when you bend each leg.

Do this for 10 to 20 seconds at a time with 5 to 10 seconds of rest in between, or whatever variation works for you for a length of time that is effective. You should get a burn but not be in pain.

Thursday, July 07, 2016

Step for Glutes and Quadriceps

You may have seen personal trainers do this with clients at the gym. Hold a bar of five to ten pounds, according to what you can do, or free weights of two pounds or more straight over your head. Step up on a step or a black platform with your right foot. Bring your left foot to join your right foot. For added intensity, go up only on your right leg and extend your left leg straight back. For yet added intensity, squeeze your left leg up one more inch when you think you cannot raise it further. The higher the intensity, the more you will work your right quadriceps and left glutes. Repeat for two to four sets of ten repetitions, according to what you can do. Then switch legs and repeat. The intensity also increases by the height of the step.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Small Swiss Ball for Adductor Muscles

Sit on the edge of a chair and place a small Swiss ball between your knees and upper calves. Slowly squeeze, bringing your legs closer together. Hold for 1-2 seconds. Return to starting position. Repeat for four sets of ten repetitions.

For a more advanced movement. Lie on your side, supporting yourself with your forearm. Place a small or medium-sized Swiss ball between your knees and upper calves. Your leg closest to the floor should be about half a foot above the floor. Squeeze your upper leg to the Swiss ball while keeping your other leg, your hips and back, steady. Repeat for four sets of ten repetitions. Switch sides and legs.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Stretch Band and Chair for Hamstrings

Sit on a steady chair with a hard cushion. Place your stretch band around your right ankle and then attach your stretch band on one end to a steady surface like a beam. While keeping your upper body and hips steady, bend your right knee slowly until your ankle is near or beyond (according to your ability) the edge of the chair. Keep it there for one second, then return to the starting position. Do four sets of ten repetitions. Then switch ankles. The higher the resistance of the stretch band, the harder is the exercise.

Check out Pocket Guide to Fitness and my other books on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=louiza+patsis

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Alphabet for Abdominal Muscles

Lie down on your back. Lift your legs straight above you and 90 degrees from your waist. Keep your legs hip width apart. Activate your abdominal muscles so your lower back will not be stressed. Trace the letters of the alphabet with each foot. Do not work too quickly. Do not forget to breathe. 

Inner Thigh Stretch

I discovered this inner thigh stretch today:
Sit down with legs extended diagonally in front of you with feet relaxed. Lean forward. Twist to your left. Place your right forearm on the inside of your right calf. with your elbow, gently stretch your right leg outward around the knee area, without turning your knee. You will feel a concentrated inner thigh stretch. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat as needed.

For your left leg, do the opposite. Sit down with legs extended diagonally in front of you with feet relaxed. Lean forward. Twist to your right. Place your left  forearm on the inside of your left calf. with your elbow, gently stretch your left leg outward around the knee area, without turning your knee. You will feel a concentrated inner thigh stretch. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat as needed.

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Use a Towel for Core Work

Barefoot or with sneakers, place a folded towel under each foot and get into the wedge position. Stick a straight leg out to your side as far as you can without engaging the lower back muscles. Repeat for the next leg. Do two to ten sets of ten repetitions, as you can.

Advanced 1: When both legs are straight behind you, do a push up!
Advanced 2: Extend both legs at the same time, like a scissor opening. Then return to starting wedge position.
Advanced 3: Move both straight legs at a time and straighten your arms to stick your butt up and have your hands and feet almost touching. Return to the wedge position. Add difficulty: Perform a push up right after the wedge position and as you begin to bring your feet to below your belly.
Advanced 4: Repeat 3 with the difficulty, but when you return your legs to the wedge, do so with a circular motion. So, extend each leg out in a circular motion to its respective side and to the wedge.

For these exercises with the towel, and more, see this video on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/1620614438206037/videos/1722218994712247/?pnref=story

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.authorhouse.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories

Monday, May 30, 2016

Swiss Ball Obliques

Rest your elbows on a medium-sized Swiss ball. Extend your body out in a plank. Breathe out and raise one leg straight about a foot above the floor. Repeat 10 times for two to four sets of 10 repetitions, depending on what you can do. Repeat for the other leg.


Friday, May 20, 2016

Work Your Abominal Muscles While Driving a Car

This is from www.truthaboutabs.com:
  • You can do them standing, seated (such as in a car), kneeling in a four-point position, or even lying flat on the floor.  I prefer them seated or standing.
  • The movement is as simple as pulling your belly button in as far as you can by imagining you're trying to touch your belly button to your spine and holding for 10-20 seconds at a time.
  • Start by inhaling deeply. Then, as you exhale, start pulling the belly button in towards the spine and hold it there for 10-20 seconds while just taking short breaths. Repeat for several of these 10-20 second holds, perhaps 5-10x if you have enough time while in the car.  But even just repeating 3-4x every time you're driving somewhere can really add up over time and give you the benefit of a flatter belly!
  • Get in the habit of doing this at least 4-5 days per week while driving somewhere and you may find that this helps to flatten your stomach more by strengthening the transversus abdominis muscle (the deep abdominal muscles beneath the rectus abdominis) if you previously had a "lazy belly."

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Psoas Muscles

This blog post is from Dr. Christiane Northrup and does not necessarily contain my opinions: http://bit.ly/1VJJq66


Sunday, March 27, 2016

Move Often, Not Just at the Gym

On Dr. Mercola's Web site, Katy Bowman discussed nutritional movement, or moving throughout the day as opposed to being sedentary and going to the gym at times. A masseuse recently told me that muscles "freeze" like meat in the freezer if you do not move. We know that we are usually more stiff in the morning after a night of sleep than throughout the day. I tried to do a back bend in the morning and the physical therapist told me that muscles have to warm up first. That is why stretching is important.

In her discussion, Katy points out how most of us are sedentary at work or in front of the computer and television all day, then spend a specific time at the gym. Instead, it is best to work in housework, walking and other tasks throughout the day to keep circulation flowing, muscles fluid and calories burning instead of just working out a few hours a week.

Dr. Mercola wrote that the interface between active and inactive muscles in your body is where injury happens. To read Dr. Mercola's article and see Katy's video, click here: bit.ly/1XWeM74.


Monday, March 21, 2016

Life Your Leg for Core Abdominal Strength and for Balance

I have been ignorant when it comes to physical therapy. And, in spite of MANY abdominal exercises and Martha Graham dance contractions, my deep abdominal muscles need some work, according to my great physical therapist.

Here is a test to see if your deep abdominal muscles are strong: Stand with feet hip width apart. Place your fingers (one hand for each side) by your top pelvic and pubic bones and monitor if your hips do not shift when you move your leg. This is key.

Simply lift one leg at a time, just an inch or two off the floor, while you breathe. Hold for 30 seconds. Are your hips shifting? This may be a sign of abdominal weakness.

Repeat the exercise with a two-inch mat under your standing leg.

Repeat the exercise with your eyes closed. Try to keep your leg up for 30 seconds. This measures balance!

Repeat for the other leg.

Repeat all variations for each leg equally and as needed.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.authorhouse.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories


Friday, March 18, 2016

Physical Therapy Exercise for the Gluteus Medius- Clam shell

I went to physical therapy for the first time this week! And I have done a lot of exercising, dancing and walking! I need the physical therapy to stabilize and strengthen deep abdominal and other core muscles and to soothe tension in my hips and thighs.

The gluteus medialis, I was told, supports the hips and thus takes tension off the knees, which take a lot of wear and tear in anyone's life, especially an athlete's. Here is a simple exercise to strengthen this muscle. 

Lie down on your right side on an exercise mat. Make sure your hip bones are aligned and the lower back is not stuck out or ducked under your spine. Breathe in by expanding your rib cage and belly. When you breathe out, concentrate on your belly muscles contracting around your navel. Bend or straighten your right leg. Open a bent left leg like an opening clam shell (a nick name for this exercise) as far as you can without compromising your hip position. Close the leg so your knees meet. Do this slowly five to ten times. Repeat while on your left side.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.authorhouse.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories

Saturday, January 23, 2016

When Men and Women Should Eat Before and After Exercise

I came upon this article. I canot vouch for the veracity. The Web site claims to be the "1 natural health site" of the world. It sounds interesting:

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2016/01/22/eat-before-exercise.aspx

Friday, January 08, 2016

A Type of Jumping Jacks for Interval Training

You will move your legs as you do in a jumping jack (legs in and out). Your arms, however, will move differently: Keeping your arms straight, bring your arms from out to your sides to almost touching in a clap in front of you. When your arms move closer your legs more apart. Do this "jump" for a minute. Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat the "jump" for a minute. Rest for 20 seconds. Repeat the "jump" for a minute. Rest for 10 seconds. Repeat the "jump" for a minute. Rest for 5 seconds. Repeat the "jump" for a minute. Breathe deeply.