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Some people who have had COVID-19 are finding their symptoms related to the virus continuing for many months. Shortness of breath, persistent fatigue, cognitive brain fog issues, difficulty eating and drinking, speech and language problems, cardiac issues, plus the anxiety or depression that can often be associated with the lengthy recovery from this new virus that we still have so much to learn about. It can affect almost every aspect of life and make resuming previous activities harder than expected.To combat the complicated, multi-layered process of post-COVID-19 recovery, Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (PVHMC) offers a comprehensive Post-COVID Recovery program designed to help those with post-COVID-19 health issues. Pulmonary rehabilitation-certified respiratory therapist, Tammy Magill, RRT, leads a highly skilled multidisciplinary therapy team who carefully evaluates symptoms, tests each patients underlying physiologic impairments, and individualizes a specific treatment plan based on the findings. The goal is to help patients recover from the continuing effects of the disease through specialized therapies and progressive exercise programs designed to improve lingering symptoms and restore functional independence as quickly and safely as possible. Interestingly, many of our Post-COVID Recovery patients were not necessarily the most ill, or those hospitalized the longest, said Magill. They managed their initial symptoms at home and, either never got over them completely, or got over them originally and symptoms returned months later.Alta Loma resident, Denalonor Bustamante, came to PVHMCs Emergency Department on December 9, 2021, where she was diagnosed with COVID-19, pneumonia and a sinus infection. She was admitted to the hospital, placed on high-flow oxygen and began her 22 day-stay in the Telemetry unit. She was discharged on New Years Eve and began the new year continuing her recovery at home.The first couple of weeks at home, I was weak and slept all the time. My head and body ached and I would cough nonstop for periods ranging from 45 minutes to 2 hours, said Denalonor. I had developed pulmonary thrombosis my doctor described it as taking shards of glass and spreading it on my lungs," Denalonor added.Denalonors pulmonologist, Dr. Rakesh Sinha, soon referred her to PVHMCs Post-COVID Recovery where she began twice weekly sessions on February 18, 2021. At her first appointment, they conducted an assessment she could only walk on the treadmill with no resistance for five minutes. She continued this five-minute rehab for the next 23 weeks and would come home so exhausted that she would sleep for 23 hours. A few months later and Denalonor can now walk on the treadmill with some resistance for more than 20 minutes. Im not as exhausted. My stamina is picking up and I am not coughing as much I can have a conversation now without gasping at every other word, said Denalonor. I fought long and hard in the hospital and had some dark days, but with the help of the amazing Post-COVID Recovery Associates, Im working on strengthening my lungs and I am hopeful.Patients who have completed the program say they are happy to be getting back to normal and report positive outcomes such as better breathing, improved oxygen levels, reduced anxiety levels, less fatigue, longer walk times, resuming previous recreational activities and returning to work.

For more information about PVHMCs Post-COVID Recovery Program, call (909) 865-9810 or visit

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Helping Southland Residents with Post-COVID Recovery - Los Angeles Business Journal

Lifting weights might seem intimidating, but if you're new to strength training, you can put on muscle and gain strength faster than athletes with decades of experience.

That's the magic of "newbie gains," which refers to the extremely fast progress beginners can make in the first six months to a year of weightlifting or similar workouts. That's because your body isn't used to the new stimulus of working out and is primed to adapt quickly as a result, according to Chris Duffin, a world record-holding powerlifter and co-founder of Kabuki Strength.

With the right planning, you can make the most of "newbie gains" while they last, and set yourself up for long-term success. To optimize your training, Duffin recommends that you prioritize recovery, don't skimp on nutrition, stick to a specific workout routine, and avoid overtraining.

A morning gym session is fine, but not if you're getting less than adequate sleep as a result.One of the biggest mistakes you can make when starting a new workout routine is waking up too early to work out, according to Duffin.

Losing sleep to exercise is a common problem with gym newbies, he said, and can lead to more soreness and risk of injury. It can also defeat the purpose of strength training in the first place, since lack of sleep means you aren't giving your muscles time to grow and adapt, stalling your gains.

"It's like bending over to pick up a dime and missing the $10 bill in front of you. It doesn't make sense," Duffin said.

Most research recommends at least seven hours of sleep for the average adult, and up to nine or even ten hours for some elite athletes.

Another common mistake gym newbies make is what Duffin calls "shiny object syndrome" trying out many different workout programs in a short time, without spending much time on any of them.

"People are trying to find the secret sauce. They'll try an approach for a month and then hop to the next thing, but the only way you can learn what works for you is to stick with something," he said.

He recommends being consistent with a program for at least six months for best results.

Duffin said people often start a new fitness routine and a new diet at the same time, trying to change their body composition in the shortest amount of time.

But to build muscle effectively, you need to be in a calorie surplus, which means eating more food than you burn off in the form of exercise and daily activities. Cutting calories too much can slow muscle growth, worsen fatigue, and impair your progress on a new workout program.

To avoid missing out on gains, Duffin recommends changing one major variable in your routine at a time. For instance, if you're adding workout days or training more intensely, give your body time to adjust before making big tweaks to your diet.

Finally, while it can be tempting to go all-out on your fitness goals, Duffin said overtraining is a major barrier to progress.

"More is not better. You want to do the least amount to get the result you want," he said.

For fitness newbies, 45 minute workouts, three times a week is a good start.

Duffin said this slow, steady approach may take patience, but it's the best way to ensure the longevity of your gains.

"The beauty of strength training is that it continues to be progressive over time," he said.

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How to quickly build muscle in your first 6 months of strength training, according to a powerlifter - Insider

Nigeria patrol boats participated in the exercises (US Navy photo)

PublishedAug 15, 2021 3:45 PM by The Maritime Executive

As part of its effort to demonstrate its commitment to maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, U.S. forces conducted a series of exercises and a planning conference in the region. The efforts were in support of the global initiative and the programs being developed by the Nigerian government to combat the rise in assaults and hijackings of merchant ships in the region.

The Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel Woody Williams, which became the first warship permanently assigned to the U.S. Africa Command area of responsibility, lead the maritime security exercise. Also, participating were the Nigerian Navy, the Spanish Navy, and members of Ghanas Special Boat Squadron.

The exercises we conducted this week show our commitment to the mutual goal of countering maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea, and how we can work together to achieve it, said Capt. Chad Graham, commanding officer, USS Hershel Woody Williams. These maritime training operations required the collaboration of not one, but three countries navies, all working together simultaneously, said. Collaborative operations like this offer invaluable experience for my crew in the present, but they also allow us to be more efficient and capable in future operations with our partners in the region.

Officers of the Nigerian Navy touring the Williams (US Navy photo)

The three-day at sea training exercise consisted of maritime interdiction operations, visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) scenarios, fleet maneuvering, and helicopter insertion and casualty evacuations. Alongside Hershel Woody Williams, participating ships included Nigerian Navy ships NNS Prosperity, NNS Nguru, NNS Ekulu, NNS Osun, NNS Ose, and the Spanish Navy ship SPS Vigia, as well as the Nigerian Navys Regional Maritime Awareness Center at Western Naval Command.

This exercise followed a two-day maritime planning event held with leaders from the Nigerian Navy. Also, during the port visit in Logos, the crew of the Williams participated in a series of community relations activities, and the vessel hosted ship tours.

The program including a 3-day training exercise (U.S. Navy photo)

U.S. commanders noted that America shares a common interest with its African partner nations in ensuring security, safety, and freedom of navigation on the waters surrounding the continent. They noted that these waters are critical for Africas prosperity and access to global markets while recognizing that Gulf of Guinea nations have steadily increased their capability of working together and sharing information.

Nigeria maintains the largest navy in the Gulf of Guinea region. Recently, the government has initiated a concerted effort to increase security in the region. In July, Nigeria launched the Deep Blue Project, which is the first integrated maritime security strategy in West and Central Africa aimed at the ongoing threats of piracy and robbery. Nigeria is committing $195 million worth of new equipment along with a dedicated maritime security unit and training as part of the combined effort on land and at sea.

The U.S. joins with other members of the international community in an increased emphasis in providing greater maritime safety in the region. The Danish government announced plans to deploy a frigate to the area in the winter of 2021-2022 during the time when piracy activity typically increases. Denmark also called on other nations to join in deploying forces to the Gulf of Guinea.

The Williams is under the command of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy. As part of the ESB ship class, the U.S. Navy noted that she is a highly flexible platform that may be used across a broad range of military operations. Acting as a mobile sea base, the Williams is part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to support missions.

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US Conducts Maritime Security Exercise in Gulf of Guinea with Allies - The Maritime Executive

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn., Aug. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --Hospital stays are stressful, and when a child is involved, it can be easy for parents to neglect their own health. Thanks to a new partnership between Wellbeats and M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital, families will have access to a free and convenient way to tend to their physical and emotional well-being while their children undergo treatment at the hospital.

The agreement, which took effect July 1, gives patients and families access to the more than 800 on-demand, virtual wellness classes in the Wellbeats app. This content is available free of charge to patients and families for the duration of their hospital stay. That means taking yoga or mindfulness classes from the comfort and privacy of a child's hospital room or participating in guided stretching exercises to work out the kinks from a night in a guest bed is all easily accessible to families. Whether an individual is looking for an intense workout to relieve stress or simply a quick break to get their blood flowing, Wellbeats delivers high-quality content for every age, ability level, and personal fitness preference.

"Wellness should be accessible and attainable to everyone, regardless of age, health status, or current life situation," said Jason Von Bank, president and CEO of Wellbeats. "We're proud to partner with Masonic Children's Hospital to enhance the exceptional care they provide with content that supports overall well-being and helps families maintain healthy habits during a time of great stress in their lives."

Wellbeats content isn't just for parents. With a wide range of classes tailored specifically to younger users, Masonic Children's Hospital patients can also access Wellbeats classes, as long as their health allows. All classes can be streamed with an internet-connected computer or on an iPhone or Android device through the Wellbeats app. Classes will also be available on televisions in patient rooms.

"Families may be with us for days or weeks at a time, so it's important to make their stay as comfortable as possible. With Wellbeats' on-demand content, families will have a diverse selection of engaging classes available any time of night or day, making it easy for them to be proactive about their well-being," said Jason Villar, service line strategy director for M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital. "We've already seen a positive response from patients and families to this offering and we look forward to the influence it will have on their experience with our hospital and their care. "

Wellbeats classes will be available to all families as long as the patient is undergoing inpatient or outpatient treatment at Masonic Children's Hospital.

To learn more about Wellbeats, visit Wellbeats.com.

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About Wellbeats

Based in St. Louis Park, MN, Wellbeats is the premier provider of on-demand, virtual wellness content and programming for use in corporate well-being initiatives. With more than 800 exercise, nutrition, and mindfulness classes, challenges, and fitness assessments available anytime and anywhere, Wellbeats allows employers to support employees with wellness resources that fit their needs, lifestyle, and schedule. Wellbeats provides best-in-class content that appeals to people of all ages, interests, and fitness levels. Wellbeats content is easily accessible through apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and Apple TV; any modern Web browser, Chromecast, Airplay, and Roku. To learn more, visit http://www.wellbeats.com, Follow on LinkedIn or check out a sampling of the company's fitness classes during a Facebook Live session.

About M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital

M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital provides a broad range of more than 55 pediatric programs and specialties from surgery, imaging and neonatal and pediatric intensive care to cardiac and oncology services and blood and marrow and organ transplantation. Our clinical staff apply innovative approaches to creating medical breakthroughs based on their work with patients and on findings through research at the University of Minnesota. This has led to several firsts, including the first successful pediatric blood marrow transplant, infant heart transplant in Minnesota, and cochlear ear implant surgery for a child. Visit http://www.mhealthfairview.org to learn more.

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Wellbeats partners with M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital to bring virtual wellness classes to patients and their...

VOLK FIELD, Wis. Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Wisconsin Aug. 10 to observe the annual Northern Lightning Counterland training exercise involving aircraft and personnel from the National Guard, Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy.

During his visit, Hokanson met with senior Wisconsin National Guard leadership as well as exercise participants and several of Wisconsins Airmen. He took the time to discuss each Airmans responsibilities at Volk Field while also learning about their family and personal life.

This is the best part of what I get to do, because when I go back I can tell the story of all the great things that you guys do, Hokanson said.

Airmen discussed the logistics behind Northern Lightning and other exercises that occur at Volk Field throughout the year. Before an exercise can take place, equipment and personnel need to be brought in and properly prepared in order for the training to be successful.

Nobody really sees that, Hokanson said. Theyre all focused on the jets and stuff like that, but all the work behind that, the semis coming in, all that stuffs got to be off-loaded. Youve got to bring all those people in. Youve got to get them billeting. Youve got to meet them. Thats the beauty of what the Guard can do.

Col. Leslie Zyzda-Martin, Volk Field Air National Guard Base commander, chimed in that many of the Airmen werent giving themselves the credit they deserve for all that they do.

When these guys are telling you their story, theyre very humble because youre only looking at a bench of a couple behind them, Zyzda-Martin said. Its unbelievable.

Airmen also discussed day-to-day operations and the support they provide to the local communities. The Volk Field Fire Department serves as the only full-time fire department in Juneau County and often works to provide support to surrounding communities through mutual aid agreements.

Volk Field Fire Department Deputy Chief Ross Krizan explained, as an example, that recently they received a call to help an individual who was stuck on a nearby bluff. He said the real-world mission was beneficial to the firemen who responded.

You can train all day, but when you get out there, you get hands on and actually lower somebody from a bluff who is not getting down otherwise, that is training that we just cant provide here, Krizan said.

Hokanson also took the time to discuss some of his priorities and listen to issues affecting Air Guard members in order to better address them.

I appreciate the chance to talk to you about you personally because to me, the beauty of the Guard is in this room, Hokanson said. Its just the people. At the end of the day, the equipment is going to come and go, but the enduring issue is weve got some incredible folks doing just great things to make this all happen.

Simultaneously, the generals wife, Kelly Hokanson,met with support staff and members of the Wisconsin National Guard Service Member Support Division to discuss a range of topics including family readiness, diversity, and health.

Many programs unique to the Wisconsin National Guard were explained and discussed including Wisconsin GI Bill tuition benefits, the Comprehensive Health and Wellness Program, and a new domestic violence reporting policy mirroring a policy already established in active duty.

Mrs. Hokanson expressed her interest in many of the benefits Wisconsin offers its Guardsmen and veterans as well as the many changes being made toward improvement.

We have come so far, Kelly Hokanson said. I love the direction that the military is going in recognizing the holistic health of an individual, because the younger generation is not like older generation. I see our senior leaders embrace positive change like this and they say, I wish that was a thing when I was young. I know my husband often says, how much better would we have been had this been available to us.

Mrs. Hokanson also spent time listening to current issues that support staff and Guard members and their dependents are struggling with. As a Transition Assistance Program ambassador, Hokanson shared specific details of the TAP program that would be useful for family readiness staff to utilize and share with Guardsmen. She offered support and resources to a military spouse whose husband was recently deployed, directing her to the Military Kids Grant and the Military Child Education Coalition. She also took extreme interest in an Airman struggling with having consistent access to the Exceptional Family Member Programs and Tricare Extended Care Health Option programs while serving on different statuses and deployments.

These are issues that National Guard and Active Duty service members across the nation are also facing.

Mrs. Hokanson said shes impressed with the National Guard in states like Wisconsin which offer so many resources and are actively creating improvements. She spoke of her appreciation and admiration of the Guard and its tightly knit community.

I want Guard people to realize that active duty is not pie in the sky, Hokanson said. I have a foot in both worlds and there are great things about each, but what you miss on active duty is this sense of community. Active duty creates that feeling of community very quickly and its awesome, but then they leave. You have to reestablish that again at the next phase and you either do or you dont whether or not its important to you.

The beauty about the Guard is that youre here and you remain here. You have those deep ties and you get to know your community members, and they become your extended tribe.

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National Guard Bureau chief visits Northern Lightning Exercise at Volk Field - Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs

Getting in shape is not an easy feat and staying in shape is equally difficult. Hopefully, we now have tiny electronic personal trainers on our wrists, watching our every move (or the lack of it) and giving us a hard time if we slack off too much.

There are fitness bands and trackers, for sure many people use them and find them useful. But some prefer a fitness watch, not only because of its looks but also because a good fitness watch beats most of the bands and trackers by a mile when it comes to features.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4

Samsung officially announced the Galaxy Watch 4 series and it's still hot from the hardware oven. The Korean tech giant has seriously upped its game with the Galaxy Watch 4. This fitness watch takes body measurements to the next level because it comes with a built-in Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis sensor that can measure body fat, skeletal muscle, body water, estimate your basal metabolic rate, and more.

We've never seen such a sensor baked into a fitness watch before, and it's a serious feat. The Galaxy Watch 4 offers 95 supported workouts, 13 of which are on the watch by default. It can autodetect most of them, and thanks to the aforementioned sensor, coupled with the more traditional heart rate and SpO2 sensors, the watch can give you amazingly detailed statistics.

The good thing is that the Galaxy Watch 4 is no slouch in other areas, unlike other more sports-oriented watches. For starters, it's very stylish and you can wear it in the gym or at a formal dinner with the same success. It has a bright and vivid Super AMOLED display (it's a Samsung watch after all), and it packs the new Exynos W920 LTE equipped chipset. So, lots of power and lots of smart features.

Apple Watch 6

Let's get the mainstream ones out of the way first. Not that the Apple Watch 6 isn't good. Quite on the contrary - it's one of the best fitness watches for iPhone users. This fitness watch offersa range of new fitness options including dance tracking, core training, functional strength training, and cooldown. All these arrive as part of watchOS 7 and sit alongside more traditional options like running and cycling.

The Apple Watch Series 6 has a built-in SpO2 blood oxygen saturation sensor and uses Vo2 max readings to monitor your cardio fitness levels as well. Apple constantly improves the user experience on its wearables with updates and you'll get years and years of support on this fitness watch.

Needless to say, the Apple Watch Series 6 is a full-fledged smartwatch with many amazing features. It's super-fast, it has tons of watch faces, some great apps, and you can get it with a titanium frame for extra durability and to shave off some of the weight, too.

Garmin's flagship smartwatch, its most advanced and most expensive one is made for high-performance athletes. The Fenix 6S Pro is a rugged multisport GPS fitness watch that just begs to be taken outside. There are preloaded tracking profiles for trail and track running, swimming, running, biking, hiking, rowing, skiing, golfing and more. The Fenix 6S Pro comes with onboard maps for 2000+ ski resorts as well!

Granted, it may lack the body composition feature but it comes packed full of sports goodness. You still get the heart rate and blood oxygen saturation sensors, and Garmin has perfected its sports tracking algorithms through the years to the point where the watch doesn't actually need more sensors to do the job.

Get your Garmin Fenix 6 watch here:

Another big plus is the battery life - unlike the Galaxy Watch 4, the Garmin Fenix 6S Pro can last for up to 9 days on a single charge, which is kinda important when you are, you know, in the mountains. You can also customize your Fenix 6S Pro, choose a sapphire option, or the neat Solar variant that charges its battery with the power of the Sun. The only downside is that the Fenix 6S Pro is rather expensive. But if you are the outdoors type, it can be the best fitness watch for you!

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

If you value your style, you'll love the Galaxy Watch Active 2. It's very sleek and comfortable to wear, and even though there's the "Active" part in its name, the watch can hold its ground on formal occasions too.

The Galaxy Watch Active 2 comes equipped with quite the variety of workouts that you can manually start: arm curls, arm extensions, back extensions, bench press, burpees, circuit training, crunches, deadlifts, ellipticals, exercise bikes, these and other exercises performed at the gym are available. And then you also have activities like hiking, pilates, stretching, swimming, walking, and yoga.

The built-in heart rate monitor is quite accurate and works pretty well, and the automatic workout detection is also great. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 can also track your sleep, manage your calorie intake, and it also comes with smart features on board.

The Fitbit Versa 3 brought even more improvements to the proverbial smartwatch table and rectified some of the complaints people had with the second-gen model. It has the same sleek and lightweight design that Versa fans love, and it can automatically track workouts, too.

Sleep tracking, heart-rate monitoring, SpO2 readings, GPS, NFC are all present on the Versa 3, alongside water-resistance at up to 50 meters (5ATM), and one whole week of battery life.

Health & Fitness Smartwatch - Soft Gold

In order to meet its target price, though, the Fitbit Versa 3 had to cut some corners. You won't get LTE connectivity on this fitness watch, nor wireless charging for that matter. The display is a bit on the small side, and the bezels are... well, definitely there! But these minor drawbacks can't spoil the final user experience - the Fitbit Versa 3 is a solid fitness watch that won't cost you an arm and a leg.

Now, if you're serious about your cardiovascular health, you should be familiar with Polar. The company is well known among fitness experts and enthusiasts. Polar manufactures heart rate sensors, widely recognized as the Gold Standard of heart rate tracking both by regular users and researchers around the globe.

What most people don't know is that Polar also makes fitness Watches. The Polar Ignite 2 takes Polar's expertise in heart rate monitoring and crams it into a stylish and durable everyday gadget. This fitness watch is perfect forgym, group exercise, swimming, running, cycling, walking, yoga, and practically anything that gets your heart racing.

The Polar Ignite 2 comes with some neat smart features as well. You can control your music, receive notifications from your phone, check the weather - all the basic stuff. There's built-in GPS inside, alongside a bunch of training guides and programs, and because the heart rate sensor is so good in this one, you also get top-notch sleep tracking and analysis.

The Polar Ignite 2 comes ina variety of colors and the price is also quite affordable.

Honor MagicWatch 2

The Honor MagicWatch 2 offers a unique blend of classic and modern - it's understated, stylish, and elegant. It's not the best fitness watch but it covers all the basics and with style. You won't need to milk your bank account dry too.

Some people say that Honor/Huawei fitness watches are just fitness bands undercover. There's some truth to this but in our case it doesn't matter much. What you're getting is amazing battery life and a slew of fitness activities and programs. Sleep tracking is present, and you get the usual pack of sensors, namely of the heart rate and blood oxygen saturation variety.

The Honor MagicWatch 2 may be a fitness band undercover but boy, what a cover! It screams premium and has one of the brightest and prettiest OLED displays on the market. And while you'll have to cough up $500-600 for similarly good looking devices from other brands, the Honor MagicWatch 2 will give you style for much less.

Garmin Forerunner 945

Garmin's Forerunner 945 has one goal and one goal only - to make an athlete out of you. The GPS inside this fitness watch is specifically built with runners in mind. You get very detailed data of your running sessions and other workouts, alongside other fitness-oriented features.

From the daily suggested workouts, to the dedicated coach, the Forerunner 945 boasts a sophisticated training app that can measure the effects of your workouts and even suggest a recovery time. There are lots of metrics on board, including a VO2 Max reading that will show your overall fitness level and progress, and there's a cool feature that's exclusive for Garmin fitness watches, called IERCC.

In case of any sort of emergency, the watch will automatically send your name and location to the Garmin IERCC, a 24/7 staffed professional emergency response coordination center. The Forerunner 945 comes in two variants - there's the vanilla version and an LTE model.

The only downside of the Forerunner 945 is its price. If you go for the LTE version, you should expect to part with around $600. There's a trimmed-down version - the Forerunner 55 that you can get for less than a third of that, and it will cover all the basics for you.

[proscons][pros]

The best smartwatch for elite athletes

Tons of useful metrics

LTE option

Garmin IERCC emergency service

Mobile payment

Smart notifications

Good battery life

Navigation with color maps

[/pros][cons]

Our list of best fitness smartwatches may be concluded for now but it is far from complete. There are so many brands out there that devices are getting announced as we type. Expect more entries to appear soon, and fuel your healthy obsessions. Until then, stay fit and stay safe.

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The best fitness watch money can buy (updated August 2021) - PhoneArena

Hop on your favorite social media platform and youll find a seemingly endless stream of exercise and workout content from certified personal trainers, exercise enthusiasts, and everyday users pumped to share their personal hot takes.

While these communities can be great resources for surfacing exercise inspiration, motivation, and know-how, its important to know who youre turning to for what info.

Anyone can create a social media profile and start sharing information, says Frances Neric, national director of certification for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in Indianapolis. But what theyre saying doesnt have to be scientifically sound.

Seeking advice from the wrong person can lead you to workouts that are poorly designed, ineffective, or potentially dangerous. So, how can you differentiate whos legitimate and whos not? Who should you be turning to for what type of advice?

Heres what you should know:

Unlike some professions (like medicine or dentistry), theres no one professional society or board that oversees fitness training. Multiple professional societies offer programs to train fitness professionals.

And those seeking training can choose from a fairly wide variety of certificates and credentials from several professional organizations. When vetting an expert youll turn to for advice about exercise and working out, Neric suggests checking which organization has certified the personal trainer.

You can check the U.S. Registry of Exercise Professionals (USREPS) to see if a personal trainer is certified by a National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA)accredited program, which shows that the fitness professionals certification has met standards set by the industry and comes from a proven safe and effective program, says Neric. (NCCA accredits a range of professions, including nurses and counselors.)

A common fitness certification is "certified personal trainer," or CPT. Reputable organizations that certify personal trainers include the American Council on Exercise (ACE), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the National Council on Strength and Fitness (NCSF), and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), according to USREPS.

Other NCCA-accredited fitness certifications include:

While this registry is extensive and easily searchable (in that there are a number of member organizations that are represented here), its not comprehensive.

There are other NCCA-accredited organizations that certify personal trainers and group fitness instructors, such as the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and the National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFTP), that arent members of the USREPS.

To verify that an individual has been certified by an authoritative fitness training organization, check that the certifying body is NCCA-accredited, Neric says.

RELATED: Should You Get a Personal Trainer?

According to the NFPT, a certified personal trainer (or someone with any of the other advanced NCCA-accredited fitness credentials) will be able to:

While a certified personal trainer can talk about basic nutrition, they cannot give you specific nutrition information. If an exercise professional is giving direct advice about what and what not to eat, be on alert, says Neric. This person can share generic information, like what a calorie is, but they should not prescribe a specific diet or eating plan.

For information about what to eat and how to exercise, a registered dietitian-nutritionist (RDN) can offer diet advice and recommendations for eating and exercise, according to the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

RELATED: What to Eat Before and After You Work Out

If you want more specific nutrition advice to optimize training or athletic performance, you may want to look for someone with additional certification, ideally someone who is a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics (CSSD), a credential from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Some accredited exercise certification programs also offer additional specialty programs in nutrition. Individuals with these certifications have additional training in nutrition, but they do not necessarily have the same breadth of education as an RDN.

If youre looking for someone who can provide both tailored training and nutrition advice, Neric suggests finding someone who is both an RDN and a certified exercise professional. They are harder to find, but they are out there.

When it comes to specialized workouts, like Zumba, CrossFit, Pilates, and others, what makes someone an expert varies:

RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Yoga

If you have a chronic illness or disability, if youre pregnant, or you have other special health concerns, you may want to get exercise advice from someone with more expertise about your condition.

If you have a clinical condition, such as obesity, diabetes, or hypertension, its important that your trainer has advanced training beyond a certified personal trainer certification ideally as an exercise physiologist so he or she is able to tailor fitness recommendations for your condition, says Lee Stoner, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in exercise physiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Dr. Stoner is a fellow of the ACSM and is the director of the Exercise is Medicine program at UNC.)

As an example, the ACSM offers itscertified clinical exercise physiologist program (ACSM-EP), which requires advanced education and hands-on training. Individuals pursuing this certification must have a masters degree in clinical exercise physiology and complete 600 hours of hands-on training, or have a bachelors degree in exercise science and complete 1,200 hours of hands-on training.

For this requirement, hands-on training can include developing exercise programs, using electrocardiography (a test that measure the hearts electrical activity), or working with people who have heart, lung, or neuromuscular disease.

Acccording to Stoner, people with this certification need to have a lot of education. You need to know the pathways of physiology of these various conditions, how to interpret an electrocardiogram, and how to communicate with the clients physician, he says.

If you are on a medication, like insulin to treat diabetes or a beta-blocker for high blood pressure, an exercise physiologist will understand what effect those have on exercise so they can train you in a safe way, Stoner says.

RELATED: Why Being Fit Helps You Manage Chronic Diseases

If you are looking for information about working out while pregnant, ideally look for a CPT who has taken continuing education courses in prenatal and postnatal fitness, from ACE or another accredited fitness organization. (Some prenatal fitness programs do not require experience to be certified, so make sure the person youre taking instruction from has their CPT.)

If youre looking for advice about senior fitness, look for a CPT who is also trained in senior fitness. One example is the NASM Senior Fitness Specialization, which is a continuing education program.

If you are injured, your exercise program should be modified. Ideally, this would be done through input from a physical or occupational therapists, notes ACSM.

The rest is here:
What Makes Someone an Expert in Fitness and Exercise? - Everyday Health

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My father has had COPD for years, but he was hospitalized for worsening symptoms related to his condition. His health care provider advised that he should begin a pulmonary rehabilitation program. He is hesitant and unsure of what to expect. What are the benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation in people with COPD? Do you recommend it for people with other lung conditions?

ANSWER: Pulmonary rehabilitation is a medically supervised program that includes structured exercise training, health education, behavior modification, nutritional counseling and the learning of breathing techniques for people who have certain chronic respiratory diseases or lung problems due to other conditions. Pulmonary rehabilitation seeks to improve the physical and psychological condition of people with chronic respiratory disease, and educate these people on how to establish and maintain behaviors that will benefit their health for years to come.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is beneficial for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. It has been shown to reduce symptoms of breathlessness, improve physical function and enhance overall quality of life. Research has shown that people who start pulmonary rehabilitation within three months of hospitalization for COPD-related issues are at significantly lower risk of death after one year, compared to those who start pulmonary rehabilitation later or those who do not take part in pulmonary rehabilitation. More evidence is emerging that pulmonary rehabilitation improves symptoms, exercise capacity and quality of life in people with conditions such as interstitial lung disease, asthma, pulmonary hypertension and cystic fibrosis, as well as in people before and after surgery for lung cancer, lung volume reduction or a lung transplant.

Care related to pulmonary rehabilitation is provided by a team of health care professionals from a range of specialty areas and backgrounds, including pulmonologists, respiratory therapists and exercise physiologists. The pulmonary rehabilitation team also may include experts from nursing, physical medicine and rehabilitation, nutrition, psychology and psychiatry, and sleep medicine, depending on a person's needs.

Typically, pulmonary rehabilitation is provided in an outpatient clinic or in a hospital rehabilitation center, and it normally involves one to three supervised sessions per week for six to 10 weeks.

Before starting pulmonary rehabilitation with patients, the health care team will:

Measure exercise capacity and lung function.

Review medical history and current treatments.

Ask about current levels of physical activity, mental health and diet.

Establish specific goals to be achieved in each person undergoing the program.

Using this information, a specialized care plan is designed to best suit the needs of every person.

Although pulmonary rehabilitation is traditionally performed in a clinic or hospital setting under direct medical supervision, increasing evidence suggests that home-based pulmonary rehabilitation, particularly home-based exercise training, is safe and possibly just as effective. Such home-based rehabilitation may be more convenient for participants. In addition, home-based rehabilitation may be a good alternative for people who are unable to regularly attend a rehabilitation center due to factors such as work commitments and travel restrictions. Many pulmonary rehabilitation centers are working to establish home-based programs.

Exercise training is central to pulmonary rehabilitation. An individualized exercise training plan, or exercise prescription, often is based on the information gathered from exercise tests performed before starting the program, and such a plan is developed for each participant. Exercise training, which combines aerobic exercise, such as treadmill walking or riding a bike; strength training; and exercises that improve balance and flexibility, is designed to improve strength and stamina, and reduce breathlessness, fatigue and tiredness in people who take part in pulmonary rehabilitation. The rehabilitation team may recommend using medication to open up the airways before exercise or teach people how to adjust their regular oxygen therapy during exercise to maximize the benefits gained. As pulmonary rehabilitation participants become more familiar with their exercise program and confident in performing regular exercise, they are encouraged to exercise independently at home or in another setting, such as a fitness center, in addition to the supervised sessions.

Participants also may learn specific breathing techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing, pursed lip breathing or yoga breathing. These techniques can help people with lung conditions better control their breathing, and help them better cope with stressful situations and avoid feeling out of breath, especially during exercise. In some situations, the rehabilitation team also may have a participant take part in specific training of their breathing muscles. This training is designed to increase the strength of the breathing muscles. And when done in combination with exercise training, it has been shown to reduce breathlessness and improve exercise capacity, compared to exercise training alone in some people with respiratory disease.

Education and counseling are also key parts of pulmonary rehabilitation. Participants may receive education on how to more effectively take their medicines and manage their disease; develop a plan to quit smoking, if applicable; and discuss how routine daily tasks can be modified to minimize breathlessness or avoid becoming breathless. In addition, many pulmonary rehabilitation programs offer individual or group-based support on how to best manage and alleviate depression and anxiety, and how to alter diet and prepare meals for long-term health benefits.

Overall, participation in pulmonary rehabilitation is a critical component in managing COPD. I encourage you to talk with your father and his health care provider about the value of pulmonary rehabilitation. I believe it is effective in helping people with lung conditions better manage their symptoms, improve their fitness and ability to perform routine daily tasks, and enhance their overall health and well-being as much as possible.

Dr. Bryan Taylor, Cardiovascular Disease, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida

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2021 Mayo Clinic News Network. Visit newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Mayo Clinic Q and A: Benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD and other lung conditions - Union Democrat

July 30, 2021|By Ilana Newman

Life Time is moving into yet another realm of lifestyle and wellness classes with its digital meditation programs.

If you spend time outdoors, you probably know the flow state that comes from the combination of focus and movement. With a new digital meditation collection, fitness and lifestyle brand Life Time teaches users to access that place of flow.

The on-demand meditation programs build on Life Times current selection of wellness programming. (It currently includes virtual training, on-demand and live streaming exercise classes, health and wellness content, and access to Apple Fitness+.)

The digital meditation programs consist of visual and auditory stimulation, like soothing videos of nature and soft voices. Five categories are offered and include stress management, mental power, daily gratitude, mindful movement, and sleep improvement. Sessions range from 2 to 15 minutes designed to fit a busy schedule.

More than 80% of Americans experienced stress symptoms in January 2021, reported the American Psychological Association. Stress causes cortisol to flood the brain. Practicing meditation releases hormones like serotonin and oxytocin, which reduce inflammation, promote healing and rest, and improve your mood, according to Life Time.

The digital meditation programs allow users to practice both mindfulness and meditation.

According to Life Times meditation preview video, the difference between the two is that mindfulness increases the ability to concentrate and focus (left brain). On the other hand, meditation is the art of letting go. It works the right side of your brain while also strengthening the corpus callosum the part of your brain that connects the right and left hemispheres.

Best of all? Life Times program organizers will release new meditations each day, so there will be a pretty good variety of options.

Interested? You can access Life Times meditation programming through its Digital and Access membership options. First-time members can get their first month of a digital subscription for free. From there, pricing begins at $15/month.

We've all had a tough year. Being able to enjoy the outdoors makes it better. Inhale, exhale, repeat. Read more

Originally posted here:
Om Demand: Fitness Brand Adds Digital Meditation Program - GearJunkie

For years, health insurance plans have been offering perks like a Fitbit or free gym membership as a reward for working out. Now life insurance companies are increasingly getting into the game.

The trend to what might be called insurefitness began about five years ago, when John Hancock launched its VitalityPLUS plan, which allows you to earn up to a 25% discount on premiums. Now online broker Health IQ says it also offers such breaks to its healthiest applicants. Sproutt, another such broker, says it will soon launch policies that provide up to a 20% benefit for fitness activity, either through a discount on premiums or a free increase in death benefit.

Apart from the benefits to policyholders, the programs make good business sense, says John Hancock chief executive Brooks Tingle. Theyre the life insurance equivalent of good-driver discounts on car policies a reward to the customers who embody less risky behavior. And many more insurers will soon be joining in, says Jonathan Godsall, a partner at McKinsey & Company. He sees incentives for healthy living as the most important trend in life insurance in at least a decade, and predicts industry-wide adoption of fitness and healthy behavior as a ratings factor within three to five years.

Even if your insurer doesnt have such a program yet, theres value in knowing how the current incentives work and how the growth of insurefitness might benefit you, now or in future.

Activity-based life insurance programs require sharing more information with your insurer than the usual medical data or exam specifically, details about your exercise, eating and sleeping habits, either self-reported or via such wearable monitoring devices as Fitbits and Amazon Halos.

The experts we contacted for this story all reported a high level of comfort among customers with such sharing, especially when there are incentives to do so. And when data must be self-reported people tend strongly to tell the truth, says Sproutt president Assaf Henkin in part, he says, because they may know the importance of accuracy when applying for life insurance, since fudging on the facts can complicate things later.

Here are details on three of the major programs:

Tingle correctly describes his companys plan as a frequent flier program for life insurance, but with rewards for healthy behavior rather than miles flown or dollars spent with an airline. All John Hancock customers have the option to automatically enroll in the Vitality GO program for free at the basic Bronze membership level. That allows points to be earned for workouts and other positive behaviors, data on which is mostly fed automatically to the insurer via the Vitality app. So, as examples, you can earn 10 Vitality points a day for walking 5,000 steps and 30 points for completing a 30-minute workout at home or in a gym.

Earning 3,000 points grants an upgrade to VitalityPLUS. (That perk also comes free if you have a term policy with Hancock, or for $3 a month extra if you hold a permanent policy.) You can then enjoy such discounts as 25% off healthy foods at thousands of grocery stores, Tingle says, and be eligible for premium discounts. Being upgraded to Silver through your healthy behavior might cut your premiums by 5% to 7%, he says, while earning Gold status increases the discount to more like 10%, and achieving Platinum status entitles you to up to 25% off.

Tingle says the programs most rewarded members arent really triathletes and the like. Instead, he says, theyre more like average people who are less healthy when they start the program and then take measures to improve their health, such as quitting smoking or losing weight in order to better control their diabetes.

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Sproutt now uses self-reported data on your fitness activities, eating habits and more to help complete a pre-approval process that Henkin says helps the broker pitch and match customers to insurers, using information beyond what is typically asked when applying for life insurance to get better rates for applicants.

But within a few months, says Henkin, Sproutt plans to unveil its own policies, underwritten by major re-insurers, that will incorporate ongoing fitness data into policy pricing and coverage. Henkin says benefits from healthy behaviors could either cut premiums or increase the policys death benefit. Lets say you qualify for a $1 million benefit under the other factors, and pay 100 bucks a month. Because youre fitter than most, we might increase that benefit to $1.2 million but still charge you only the $100.

We have less detail on Health IQs offerings than those of the others, since the company did not respond to an information request a situation some other media outlets who have contacted the online broker have also reported.

But the Health IQ website suggests the company delivers discounts to its customers of up to 8% for displaying health literacy, plus potentially up to an additional 9% for having an active lifestyle. Further discounts of up to 24% are awarded, the company claims, through reclassifying applicants into more favorable risk categories based on their health knowledge and fitness activity.

Obviously, the programs weve profiled are intriguing options if youre shopping for life insurance and also plan or at least aspire to initiate or continue healthy habits in your life. The prospect of lowering the cost of insurance by taking better care of yourself may even provide added incentive to take steps youve wanted to take for a while. You can kick the tires of the Sproutt program by completing the companys online healthy living questionnaire, which will yield a Quality of Life Index that allows you to see which health and fitness factors are helping and hurting your eligibility for insurance.

When insurefitness programs come to your life insurer, says Godsall, theyll almost certainly utilize devices such a wearable monitors, together with either existing fitness apps or new ones the insurers develop. So the likely arrival of such programs could be further incentive, too, to begin using such devices and apps now to track your activity and encourage you to exercise more.

A proper life insurance policy will protect your loved ones from the unexpected.

No time like the present to get on the estate planning path. Do it right with life insurance and take care of your family. Click below for more information.

The Best Life Insurance Companies of 2021

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(An earlier version of this story misstated Assaf Henkins title.)

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Life Insurers Are Promising Discounts if You Let Them Track How You Exercise and Eat - Money

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