We all know that working on our Spokane Personal Fitness with the best Spokane Fitness coach can improve your health, lower your cholesterol, reduce diabetes symptoms, and in general just give you a better quality of life.

But did you know Spokane Personal Fitness can flat out save your life, too?

Recently, a woman made the news because her highly developed abdominal muscles saved her life. She was setting up to go paragliding in Spain when a sudden gust of wind lifted her up and flipped her over, dragging her across the rocky ground, all the while her stomach being beaten by the rocks.

While she suffered from a torn liver and pancreas and some major bruises and scratches, her injuries could have been much worse. Your average person would have had injuries so sever they would have been taken into emergency surgery. But since her core muscles were so highly developed, she avoided the worst. The medical director of the Women’s Sports Medicine Center at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York said that the stronger your “musculoskeletal system” is, the more your internal organs will be protected.

What sort of Spokane personal fitness should I do?

To strengthen your core mucles, you really need you whole body to be in shape. Cardio work can help you lose any excess fat, which is an essential first step. Speed walking, jogging, swimming, any thing that will be easy on your joints at first. Then replace that fat with muscles with some light resistance training. Start with ten to 12 pound weights added to your cardio work. If you are walking or jogging, there are some great strap on weights you can use, such as vests or ankle and wrist weights.

You can also do the following exercises to building your core strenght:

• Crunches
• Planks
• Squats
• Leg lifts
• Reverse crunches
• Lunges
• Weighted crunches
• Seated, weighted side twists

But to get the absolute best results, make sure to contact Zach Hunt with Physzique Personal Fitness. He can help you get in the best shape of your life, and do it in a safe, healthy way. Even if you consider yourself to be fairly fit already, Zach can help you get toned and trim, and make your core stonger than it has even been before.

Your Spokane Cardiologist has told you that you are in danger of having a heart attack. You go to a cardiologist at the Kootenai Medical Center for a second opinion, and she tells you the same thing. Get healthy now or suffer the consequences. Are you really prepared to take that risk? My best guess would be “NO!” They prescribe medications and tell you that getting off your butt will help. They strongly suggest that you don’t rely on medication alone. You need a life style change. No more greasy food. No more Spokane fast food. No more couch potato! But what can you really do to increase your heart health? The answer is simple.

Get happy!

Music and it’s affect on heart health.

A years-long study by Dr. Mike Miller of the University Medical Center in Baltimore shows that being happy can improve your heart health. Scientists have known for quite some time now that laughter can actually open up blood vessels and increase the blood flow in your heart. Dr. Miller focused his own study on music. If watching a funny movie can open up those vessels, why shouldn’t music that makes a person happy have the same affect? After a simple set up to monitor the hearts reaction, the result of a participant listening to music, or even playing an instrument themselves, was not surprising. Not only did the vessels open up and allow more blood to flow through, chemicals were also produced that are beneficial to the heart. When the participants listened to music they didn’t enjoy, the chemical production stopped and the vessels began to close.

What else can I do to have a healthy heart?

We have mentioned before that listening to up beat music during a work out can keep you motivated. This recent study shows that the music not only keeps you moving, it also keeps your blood flowing! Working out will help you lose weight which will decrease the strain on your heart. Working out can also increase the production of chemicals that help you feel happy and content. Double that up with music that makes you happy, and you are well on your way to having a happy heart! Miller does suggest to change up your music selection often as listening to the same songs over and over again actually decreases their affect on your vessels.

You can get the best work out of your life, and possibly save your life, with Zach Hunt of Physzique Personal Fitness. Contact Zach today to set up and appointment to begin the rest of your healthy, happy life!

Everyone likes to hang out at Spokane Bars and with friends and family to party this time of year. And most of the time, we totally ignore the calories in the drinks we are consuming. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Many of our favorite holiday drinks have more calories and most meals we are eating at the same time! Here are a few slightly healthier alternatives to those holiday favorites, and what the traditional stand-by’s are doing to our waist lines.

Egg Nog

Egg Nog is rich, creamy, and oh-so-yummy. And like most things that fall into that decadent category, it is LOADED with calories. One cup of Egg Nog can set you back 343 calories and 19 g of fat, and that’s without the booze. Add a shot of rum, that number jumps to well over 400 calories per cup. Add whipped cream and more rum, and its caloric content sky rockets.

Light egg nog is better but only slightly. A cup has 280 calories and 4 g of fat.

Ginger Snap Latte

Many of our favorite Spokane coffee bars offer tons of delicious holiday treats, like Spokane Starbucks Ginger Snap Latte. (formerly Gingerbread Latte). Warm, spicy and sweet, it’s the perfect pick-me-up on a dreary winter day. But a grande Gingersnap Latte with whipped cream will run you 340 calories and 13 g of fat.

Want to slice a few numbers off that count? Order yours with non-fat milk (2% is the default) and no whip. Even then, you’re still looking at 220 calories, but you’re saving yourself 120 calories, which can really add up over time.

Hot Buttered Rum

Anything with butter and rum can’t be all that great for you. There are 500 calories in a half-cup serving! If you have a full cup, you have half your daily caloric intake in a single drink. With so many other hot drinks out there that aren’t so high in calories, add this one to your “never gonna drink it!” list.

Mulled Wine

Wine is usually a healthier alcoholic choice in general. So wouldn’t a warmed up version with a few spices added be just as good? Sorry, but no. A glass of mulled wine can have 356 calories an 40 g of carbs.

What makes the difference? Sugar. And lots of it. So stick to standard wine, and avoid the sugar and added calories.

Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate is soooo yummy. As soon as the temperature drops, and we are out side skiing, sledding, chopping down our own Spokane Christmas tree, or any of the other wonderful things to do in the cold weather, hot chocolate is on the top of the list for a quick warm-me-up. The calories. A large hot chocolate from your Spokane Dunkin Donuts has 480 calories, 18 g of fat and an astounding 61 g of sugar. To give you an idea of just how much that is, consider this: A Spokane McDonald’s cheeseburger has 330 calories.

So basically, if you don’t want to gain weight over the holidays, it would actually be best to just skip these holiday favorites. And if you can’t avoid them, make sure to work out extra hard with Zach Hunt, from Physzique Personal Fitness!