Fitness Archives - Northeast Health and Fitness at Quincy

Are you on top of all the fitness and food trends today? If not… keep reading!

1. Wearable technology. Everyone is wearing an apple watch, fit bit or Garmin. These devices are more popular than those wild donuts everyone is eating.

2. Functional training. Any workout that will correlate to your activities of daily life is functional. Working with twisting and rotating movements, squatting (the bending and lifting motion) are all functional.

3. Keto. Yep this has been a trend for a very long time. It has been proven to help in some drastic situations for a short period of time. From my professional perspective, I do not see it to be healthy to maintain for any period longer than a month. If you just pay attention to the calories you are consuming and expending, that should help you reach your goals.

4. Group training. This one is huge in any gym you walk in to. Group exercise classes are on the rise to get people of all fitness levels together for a great workout.

5. Crazy Donuts/ Drinks. Frosted flakes on donuts, cake blended into your coffee. I’m not sure why these food items are trending in fitness (just because you can doesn’t mean you should) but if you follow IIFYM (if it fits your macros) then by all means, go for it.

6. Body Positivity. This one is one of my most favorite fitness trends and I hope it stays around. Fitness is not about hating yourself and what you look like. It’s about making a lifestyle change to enhance the quality of your life!

Have you noticed and trends in health and fitness lately? If so leave a comment below!

Flexibility is one of the most overlooked components of fitness! It can reduce injury, inhibit lower back pain, prevent post exercise pain and even relieve emotional tension.

As we mature in years, we increase type I collagen (which is stiffer) it has greater fiber diameter and greater number of cross linkages that give stiffness to collagen fibers. With this, we see a decrease in the type III elastin which is spring like. If there is a lack of flexibility, there is a decline in range of motion (ROM) which is the strongest predictor of decline in activity levels and ADL (activities of daily living) performance.

The goal is to bend the aging curve, maintain independence and reduce falls!

The best way to stretch is Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) which is a stretching technique that uses the nervous system as sort of a “set up” mechanism. It allows the muscle to contract while stretching. The results from PNF last a longer time that other methods. Be aware though, especially if working with an older adult that there are age related alterations in muscle elasticity.

An example of PNF stretching is laying on the floor or a table and having a partner raise one leg up as Far as it will go. From here they hold the leg up and then release, then hold it up again going further. Note this can also be done with a rope or towel.

At Northeast Health & Fitness we offer a flexibility class called Lean & Limber that is free to all members of the club! Be sure to check out our group exercise schedule!