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Tips for Better Health

The great health and fitness guru, Jack LaLanne, once said, "if your health is the most important thing in your life, why would you put anything in your body that is bad for you?"

1.  Drink a lot of water.  How much?  Take your weight in pounds and divide it in half.  Drink at least  that many ounces of water.  Soft drinks, coffee and beverages containing alcohol are not acceptable substitutes.  In  fact, for every caffeinated drink you consume, you should increase your water intake by that much.

2.  Choose a diet high in complex carbohydrates.  Whole grains, beans, legumes and fresh fruits and vegetables should make up the vast majority of your diet.

3.  Eliminate all trans-fats from your diet.  Virtually all foods today are labeled as to their trans-fat content.

4.  Your body is designed to process food.  The more a food is processed, before you consume it, the less healthy it is for you.  Examples of processed foods are white flour, refined sugar, and "fast food" french fries.  In general, the longer the list of ingredients a food contains, the less of it you should eat.

5.  Minimize consumption of animals and animal products.  The meat and dairy industries have pushed our society toward massive consumption of meat and dairy products, despite the fact that humans are biologically vegetarians.  Eliminating animal and dairy products is a personal and sometimes emotional decision.  Just realize that every bite of meat (including poultry and fish), every egg, and every drink of milk, slice of cheese, and bowl of ice cream is bad for your health.   A good rule to follow is every time you consume one of these negative items, do something positive to overcome it.

6.  Don't smoke!  If you already smoke, quit.  Enough said.

7.  Don't go shopping when you are hungry.  If you do, you will frequently choose less healthy foods.

8.  Minimize the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

9.  When you eat, take small portions and chew your food completely.  Remember, it takes about 30 minutes for your stomach to inform your brain that it has had enough.

Tips for Better Fitness

1.  Every good fitness program involves three basic pieces:  Strength, Flexibility, and Endurance.  At UMA, we endeavor to include all three in your classes.

2.  Frequently, when someone begins an exercise program, they subconsciously convince themselves it is okay to eat more.  So they either gain weight, or fail to lose the weight they wanted to lose.

3.  If you wish to lift weights, do not overdo it.  Lift weights with which you can do three sets of 10 reps without excessive strain.

4.  If you have a goal to lose weight, do it sensibly.  Stay away from fad diets.  Gently decrease your food intake, and increase your aerobic exercise.  Healthy aerobic exercise is easier than most people think.  Subtract your age from 220 and multiply by .7.  This is your target pulse rate and is surprisingly easy to achieve through running, bicycling, practicing long or short forms, or whatever your exercise choice is.  30 minutes of exercise at or near your target pulse rate, a minimum of 3 times per week, causes your body to increase its ability to convert fat to burnable sugars.  A much higher or much lower pulse rate will not give you this effect.  Once your body develops this ability, it will burn fat 24 hours per day.  This is a very simplistic discussion.  But, it works.  For more information, United Martial Arts highly recommends the book Fit or Fat, by Covert Bailey.

5.  Proper weight is not measured by how much you weigh.  It is measured by body fat percentage.  For UMA students, see Master Perry if you wish to have a personal measurement.  A healthy body fat percentage depends on several factors, including age.  But in general, for men, healthy body fat is 9-15%.  For women it is 17-23%.

6.  If you want to improve your level of cardiovascular health, use the same formula as in number 4 above, but, multiply by .8 instead of .7.  In any case, do not exercise so hard that you cannot maintain a conversation.  If you want to lose weight and improve cardiovascular health, alternate between .7 one day and .8 the next.  With a little practice, you will learn to monitor your pulse rate.

7.  Too many people claim they do not have time to exercise.  This is a flimsy excuse.  Your exercise program should be scheduled just like any other important appointment.  Nobody ever says on their death bed that they wish they had exercised less and worked more.

8.  Find excuses to exercise.  Ride a bicycle or walk instead of driving.  Climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator.  Walk your dog instead of just letting it out in the back yard.  Don't spend five minutes driving around looking for a close parking place at the mall.

9.  Get a partner to train with.  It's harder to make an excuse to your partner than it is to yourself.

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