Gold’s Gym Douglasville Enewsletter

By Gordon Johnson 

Manage Diabetes with Exercise 

People with type 2 diabetes may go a long way in managing their condition if they take up regular exercise, a new research review shows.  Researchers found that when they combined the results from 103 studies, there was clear evidence that lifestyle changes helped people with type 2 diabetes gain better control over their blood sugar. But while diet, exercise and medication are all vital to diabetes management, exercise alone was effective in these studies.

Exercise the Key to Controlling Diabetes 

In fact, the review found, studies that focused only on boosting exercise levels yielded greater benefits than those that tried to change patients’ diets, exercise habits and medication adherence all at once.  The findings “could mean that it is easier for people to focus on one thing at a time,” lead stud y author Dr. Vicki Conn said in a statement. “It is easy for people to get overwhelmed when asked to make too many changes.”  Conn and her colleagues at the University of Missouri-Columbia report the findings in the journal Diabetologia.  For their study, the researchers combined the results of 103 studies that involved a total of 10,455 adults with type 2 diabetes, a disorder in which the body cannot properly use the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin.

If you suffer from Type 2 Diabetes or know someone who does, learn more about how exercise can help. 

By Skip Johnson, Gold’s Gym Managing Partner

Research overwhelmingly shows that regular exercise lowers the risk for many diseases, enhances the functioning of virtually every physiological system in the human body and improves psychological well-being. 

1. Helps you to more effectively manage stress.     

2. Helps you to lose weight – especially fat weight

3. Improves the functioning of your immune system.

4. Reduces medical and health care expenses.

5. Reduces your risk of getting heart disease

6. Increases your level of muscle strength.

7. Improves athletic performance.

8. Can help relieve the pain of tension headaches.

9. Allows you to consume greater quantities of food and still maintain caloric balance.

10. Helps you sleep easier and better.

Are you ready to reap the benefits of exercise?  Gold’s Gym is ready to help you get started!  We have a Free Mini-Membership waiting for you!

Lunges are an exceptional exercise for conditioning a mom’s lower body. They stress the muscles from a perfect angle to develop beautiful shape and symmetry in your legs, thighs and butt.

Because they require balance, lunges also build nueromuscular and functional capacity - helping your body go through it’s daily motions and let you pick up your children with ease.

Whether you’re caring for a child, trying to lose weight, want to look sleeker in shorts or improve your athletic performance, lunges should be part of your training program.

The Ultimate Lunge is the Reverse Lunge
There are many types of lunges. In my opinion, the best is the reverse lunge. here’s why:

- Because you have more balance and support, it’s easy to learn and perform. Plus you have less momentum to contend with during the exercise which provides more effective stress to the muscles and yields better results.

- It’s safer and softer on your knees because your back foot absorbs the ballistic shock of the lunge step. (Contrasted to the front lunge where impact shock can transfer to the knee even if you land heel to toe.)

- It creates muscular balance by initiating the movement backward as opposed to most other exercise movement patterns that take you forward and bias your musculature toward forward motion.

How To Do A Reverse Lunge Correctly
- Start facing forward feet shoulder width apart arms at your side.

- Step back with one leg far enough to allow your knees to bend at 90 degree angles. You can simultaneously bring your arms up to act as a slight counter balance. If you want a greater challenge, hold light weights in your hands.

Reverse Lunge - You’re in correct position at the bottom of your lunge when your front knee is directly over the ankle. (See picture)

IMPORTANT - To go back to the start position, start dropping your arms and lift from the heel of your front leg. DO NOT PUSH OFF YOUR BACK LEG. This simple advice will dramatically improve the effectiveness of your reverse lunge, give you a butt I can bounce a quarter off of and get you much better results in half the time.

Try doing reverse lunges 3 times-a-week on non-consecutive days. Work up to 2 sets of 10 repetitions on each leg. After a month I think you’ll be amazed at the impact the reverse lunge will have on your physique.

By Lisa Gorman, Registered Dietitian

Awesome Almonds 

Nuts, like almonds, contain healthy monounsaturated fats.  Studies show that “good fats” versus saturated fats isn’t absorbed the same way as a hunk of butter.  It appears less monounsaturated fat gets stored in fat cells than saturated fat.  Second, having a little fat 30 minutes before a meal (around 70 calories worth) causes a hormone called cholecystokinin (CKK) to be released from the intestine, which causes you not to want to eat much. For instance eating 6 walnuts, 12 almonds, or 20 peanuts before chowing down on your main meal could reduce overall food intake.  Aim for 25-30% dietary fat daily with only 7-10% coming from saturated fat.

Want to learn more about functional foods that will boost your metabolism and enhance your workouts? Get your personalized nutrition plan today!  Contact Lisa Gorman Registered Dietitian for Gold’s Gym @  lmgnutrition@hotmail.com   Get started at Gold’s Gym with a FREE Mini-Membership!  No strings attached!