Middle age woman walking for fitness

Private Health Insurance Needs To Support Exercise

Want your private health insurance to help you cover your exercise costs?

Getting and staying fit and healthy takes time, effort, and often your hard earned money. I’m clearly biased, but I believe these investments are worth it. Most private health insurance companies agree – at least in statement. Unfortunately, they agree less when it comes to putting their money where their mouths are.

Many private health insurance companies do offer exercise physiology coverage through their extras programs, which is a great first step. Frustratingly for both exercise physiologists and our clients – that is, for you – the coverage is often limited, with large gap payments and relatively low limits on what your private health might pay annually. As exercise physiologist, we are also limited in what services we can provide when you are claiming with private health. General fitness sessions are not covered under exercise physiology. Rather, your EP session should be designed to address a specific health condition(s). Given the amount of science telling us how much exercise helps keep us all healthy, preventing disease and chronic conditions, it would be nice to see some support for regular exercise in a preventative capacity.

You can do something about this! Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA), the governing body for exercise physiology and exercise science, has released a statement encouraging private health insurance customers to get involved. A petition is available, and they’ve provided a template letter for contacting your insurance company directly to support an increase in exercise physiology benefits. If you want better coverage and better support for exercise for health and fitness, head over the read the statement – petition links and letter template at at the end.

 


Three Easy Ways To Drink More Water

Want to drink more water? We all have the best intentions when it comes to staying hydrated, but for such a simple task, it can still be tough to keep up with. It doesn’t have to be though. Try one of two of these simple options and keep your body happy.

Start The Day Right

Are you a coffee or tea drinker? (I am a coffee drinker. A lot of coffee.) While you’re waiting for the kettle to boil or the coffee to brew, get yourself a glass of water. Drink at least some of it while you wait. Make it interesting if you want: I drink mine warm, sometimes with lemon. I hear I’m weird like that.

Use A Straw

For whatever reason, it’s way easier and faster to drink a lot of water (or anything) through a straw. Invest in a plastic tumbler with a straw and keep it full and nearby. You’ll be amazing how often you’ll need to fill it up. Bonus: Most of those cups are double walled, so your cold drinks stay cold.

Stick With Small Glasses

Think a bigger glass will help you drink more? Well, it might, but it also might not. One of the biggest truths in the health and fitness industry: Success breeds success. Drink one small glass and it’s easier to drink another. Drink several glasses today, and you’ll be more likely to tomorrow. String together a few days and you’re well on your way to a great habit.

Looking for practical ways to improve your health and fitness? Four weeks can change your next forty years. Spend some time with a HealthFit health coach and find out just how healthy you can get. Find out more.


Cartoon of two people sitting down having a conversation

Why Healthcare Is Like Dating

You’re looking for someone to care about you, enough so that they want the best for you.

Could be dating, could be finding a new healthcare provider. Whether going well or not, these two situations have a lot of similarities. They boil down to some base questions:

Are you meeting the right kind of person?

In dating, you want to meet someone that you have something in common with.

In healthcare, you want to meet a provider that has training “in common” with your condition. A doctor for illnesses, a dietician for nutritional advice, a massage therapist and exercise physiologist for muscle imbalance and injury prevention – the list could go on and on.

Are you meeting them at the right time?

I recently had a client come in with debilitating back pain. She could hardly move. She’d already been to the physiotherapist, who had given her some exercises to increase her core strength (the right solution, long term)… that she couldn’t do, because she could hardly move. What she needed was the right type of healthcare for her present condition – in this case, remedial massage to relieve the muscle spasm and allow the exercises to work. For the most effective and efficient outcome, you need the right healthcare at the right time.

Do you like them?

In healthcare and dating, there are many fish in the sea. Your doctor, exercise physiologist, dietician, remedial massage therapist, physiotherapist, etc. has approximately the same training as all the others in their field. But, as with dating, just because a person meets basic criteria doesn’t mean that you have to stick with them. Better healthcare happens when you have good communication, and good communication happens when you connect with people. Look for someone who listens to you, asks good questions about how you feel, wants your input, looks to make you a part of the solution, and is nice to you!

(And just like dating, when you find a good one, hang onto them!)


Brain-Boosting Exercise

Exercise 101:  It builds muscle, and increases fitness, and can make life a little easier – and not just physically!

It’s well known that exercise and physical activity helps you maintain good physical health. Did you know that exercise is good for your mental health too? Maybe you’ve heard that it’s a primary treatment recommendation for depression, or heard a friend describe getting a mental boost from a workout. Maybe you’ve had the really strong “I FEEL GREAT” feelings after you’re done. But where does that boost come from?

exercise fun

While these “feel-good” feelings are stimulated by exercise, their actual source is in the brain itself. During times of stress, which is how the body perceives exercise, the brain releases endorphins, a type of hormone that we commonly associated with a rush of euphoria. These hormones help block any pain signals that the stress might be causing, as a preventative measure of sorts.

They also make you feel damn good. As above, endorphins create feelings of euphoria – they are chemically similar to morphine! – and can increase positive thoughts and feelings. The “endorphin effect” can be both immediate and (with regular exercise) long-lasting. My first-hand experience with post-workout elation and exhilaration has made me a strong supporter of exercise as a useful element of treatment for depression and anxiety, both of which have popped up in my life. And there’s growing support that exercise can play a role in treatment and prevention of other mental illnesses, including helping to manage physical health challenges that can sometimes occur alongside.

It’s not just about feeling good, though. Long-term mental health can also get a boost from exercise. During times of stress, the brain releases another biochemical protein: brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This protein protects brain cells and their connections with each other, called synapses, which in turn helps improve brain cell signaling and can reverse cell damage. Improved connections between brain circuits mean improved memory, attention span, and processing speed. In some studies, increased levels of BDNF have actually been shown to have a reparative effect, and may eventually help us restore learning abilities and memory. Even low-key or modest levels of exercise, like going for a walk every day, have been show to produce BDNF-related improvements.

Neurons

The protective effects of BDNF extend throughout life. Many studies of brain health in older adults have shown that people who were more physically active earlier in life were less likely to develop degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. In the early stages of these diseases, people can also benefit from exercise: the aforementioned walk can help prevent disease progression. We tend to produce less BDNF as we age. Given the benefits, it makes sense to get moving regardless of current age or mental health.

Biochemicals aside, exercise actually benefits the brain in some of the same ways that it benefits the rest of our body. The blood vessels in our brains are very small, but still susceptible to the same types of damage as any of our other blood vessels. A stroke is one of the most common types of cardiovascular disease, and is the brain equivalent of a heart attack. While large strokes are usually quickly noticeable, small ones may occur without your knowledge. Tiny blockages leading to potentially unnoticeable mini-strokes can damage small areas of the brain and may lead to long-term mental health decline. You can vastly decrease your risks though: Your brain’s blood vessels are positively affected by exercise – the same way as the rest of your blood vessels throughout your body. Good blood vessel health (also called vascular health) also means optimal blood flow to the brain, and with it, optimal delivery of nutrients and oxygen. Sounds like a good idea to keep those channels open!


One skillet cauliflower hash with red peppers ready for a healthy breakfast

Cauliflower Hash

Hash is traditionally a dish of meat and chopped potatoes. This spin on it is vegetarian and low-carb, but no less tasty! Cauliflower is substituted for the potatoes and the umami flavor that the meat traditionally provides comes from a dose of parmesan cheese. If you like a bit of spice, a sprinkle of chili powder or chili flakes add a pleasant heat, though if spicy is not your thing, you won’t miss them either!

This is great for an easy, healthy dinner, but works equally well as a healthy breakfast, giving you an alternative to the more usual breakfast foods that are basically dessert in disguise. Up the protein by topping with an egg or two – the runny yolk makes a delicious sauce and you get a delicious, filling dinner that won’t leave you feeling anything but great.

 

Cauliflower Hash

  • 1 small-medium carrot
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1 med-large brown/yellow or sweet onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 large head of cauliflower
  • 1 large red bell pepper or capsicum
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • ground pepper
  • 2 tsp each dried thyme and oregano
  • Grated parmesan cheese, to serve
  • Optional to serve: Chili powder or flakes

Grate or finely dice the carrot, and chop the celery and onion. Spray a large pan with oil (if not using non-stick) and cook carrot, celery, onion, and garlic over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning.

While the other vegetables are cooking, break cauliflower into smaller heads and then chop into smallish pieces. Add to pan when vegetable mix is starting to soften, and continue to stir frequently. Deglaze the pan with water as needed (see note).

Chop the bell pepper/capsicum and add to pan when vegetable mix is starting to turn golden brown, and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Sprinkle over salt, pepper, thyme and oregano, and mix through. Serve sprinkled with grated parmesan and chili, if desired, and an egg or two.

 

NoteDeglazing is a wonderful way of adding more flavor to a dish without adding any extra ingredients, and also helps keep your food from scorching. Learn how to deglaze a pan here (and you’ll also learn more about why and how it maximizes taste).


Body composition scans showing lean muscle and body fat

What’s More Important, Body Weight or Body Composition?

Both body weight and body composition are important in developing and maintaining good health. Does one deserve more attention than the other?

When you step onto the scale, the number you see accounts for the weight of all the tissue in your body. Body composition breaks down your weight into percentages of fat mass and lean tissue mass, providing a much clearer picture of what’s inside your skin. When it comes to health risks and rewards, it’s the percentages that count.

Your overall weight can provide insight into how high your health risks are, but there’s more to it than simple cause and effect – that number can be completely misleading. Compare a 100kg/220 pound bodybuilder to an inactive office worker who is exactly the same height, and also happens to be the same weight. You’re probably imagining two very different looking bodies with very different levels of health, fitness, and overall wellbeing – all due to the amount of body fat each person carries.

Fat cells are as active as any other cells in your body, producing a variety of hormones and other molecules that can increase your blood pressure, lead to insulin resistance, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and can have a negative impact on your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Abdominal fat cells appear to have a greater influence on these health markers. In addition, increased fat mass leading to high body weight can be hard on the body as whole, increasing stress on the heart, lungs, and joints, reducing sleep quality, and increasing mental and emotional stress. Lean body tissues, on the other hand, overwhelmingly provide support and protection to the body and your health, giving you the ability to cope with physical stress.

While there are no universally agreed upon standards for healthy body fat percentages, we do know that healthy levels vary by age range and sex. Body fat levels typically increase with age, and women generally have a higher body fat percentage than men, likely due to the role body fat plays in reproduction. The published research on body fat norms generally suggests that for health benefits, men should maintain 10-25% body fat from the age of 35 onwards, and women should maintain 23-38% body fat for the same age ranges.

There are a number of techniques available that can provide a basic body composition measurement, though these vary in ease of access, accuracy, and cost. Bio-impedance devices, like the hand-held machines or scales that provide a body fat estimate, are by far the most common commercially available options. These devices have varying degrees of accuracy, but in general are a good option for at-home measurement. Other methods include skinfold measurement, air or water displacement techniques, and the DEXA scan – the same one that is used to provide measurements of bone density for those at risk of osteoporosis.

Regardless of what method you choose, you need to stick with that method or machine to get the most accurate picture of progress, as different techniques use different equations to get your percentage. And for health reasons, it’s the fat percentage that counts. While excessive body weight is associated with many chronic health conditions, poor quality of life, and often to an untimely death, you’ll have much better control over your risk factors by keeping the body fat percentage low and not worrying as much about overall weight!

 

For more information:
Pescatello, L. S. (Ed.). (2014). ASCM’s Guidelines For Exercise Testing and Prescription (9th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Plowman, S. A., & Smith, D. L. (2017). Exercise Physiology For Health, Fitness, and Performance (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Trefethen, L. N. (n.d.). New BMI ( New Body Mass Index). Retrieved March 03, 2018, from https://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi.html