DetailsCategory: Local NewsPublished: Wednesday, 25 September 2019 12:00Written by Ethan Mitchell

It's Women's Health and Fitness day today at the Estevan Leisure Centre, and instructor Jessica Lewgood said the day is a great opportunity to try out some of the programs offered at the Leisure Centre.

"We had classes start at six this morning and the classes are free all day, it's just a great opportunity for people to try a different class or to bring a friend who isn't a member at theLeisure Centre yet and see what the programs have to offer."

AlexisCieplinski - another fitness instructor - said they had a lot of new ladies coming in.

"I heard a lot of good things, everybody really enjoyed the class and I heard a lot of people saying that they will be coming back for sure."

Cieplinskiwent on to say that it is really rewarding to get people into fitness through programs like these.

"Nothing is scary about fitness, the hardest part about fitness is getting into a car and driving to the facility."

The day will continue at the Leisure Centre until roughly 7 p.m., so be sure to stop by and give fitness a try.

For the full list of programs check out our previous story:National Health & Fitness Day Approaches with Free Classes in Estevan

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Health and Fitness Day Getting Folks Back into Fitness - DiscoverEstevan.com

COVINGTON, Ga. -National Womens Health and Fitness Day is Sept. 25, and Resurgens Orthopaedics Physician Dr. Roderica Cottrell, who practices in Covington, opens up about her own struggles with weight in an effort to help women overcome obesity and the wealth of health problems it can create.

I was always on the heavier side as a child, and overweight as an adult, she said.My attempts at losing weight over the years included pills, shakes and everything in between.These efforts always proved to be moderate and temporary.

After having her second child, Cottrells weight hit 240 pounds, and she developed several obesity-related problems, including sleep apnea, poorly-controlled hypertension and increased back and knee pain.She was on three different anti-hypertensive medications that were barely controlling her blood pressure and began using a CPAP machine at night due to sleep apnea.

Dr. Roderica Cottrell - photo by Submitted Photo

At this point, I knew it was time for a change as I could have been moments away from a stroke, heart attack or even death," she said.

Cottrell took control of her life and began adapting lifestyle changes, including healthy eating habits and incorporating a regular and intensive exercise program into her schedule.She began monitoring her portions and limiting and eliminating certain foods in her diet. She soon realized that consistency is the key, and the pounds began to drop.

After three years, Cottrell has lost more than 50 pounds, her blood pressure is under control, she no longer suffers from sleep apnea and her back and knee pain have subsided.

Obesity is the cause of numerous health problems, including some that Cottrell specializes in treating as an orthopaedic physician.These include musculoskeletal conditions that often cause chronic pain, which in turn can lead to a sedentary lifestyle.Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and cardiovascular disease can follow.

Obese women are also increasingly susceptible to developing certain kinds of cancers.

Cottrell says that she does not always choose the best food options and some weeks she does not work out as much as she should.Shehas learned during her journey that if you are consistent with your nutrition and exercise at least 80% of the time and commit to a healthy lifestyle, you can successfully reach and maintain your fitness goals.

Cottrell's advice to those who want to make a change to a healthy lifestyle:

For more information about Dr. Cottrell, visithttps://www.resurgens.com/physicians/roderica-e-cottrell-md.

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Resurgens Orthopaedics physician gets personal for National Women's Health and Fitness Day - Covington News

LEWISBURG National Womens Health and Fitness Day took center stage Wednesday at Country Cupboard, Lewisburg.

Evangelical Community Hospital educators conducted blood pressure and other screenings. Speakers stressed the importance of regular physical activity and health awareness for women.

Health and fitness-related vendors also set up displays.

The morning was highlighted by a talk and demonstration by Taryn Wilk, community health educator. She opened by asking the gathering whether audience members would take a magic pill which could actually strengthen and improve health and brain function.

The bad news is that there is no magic pill. she said. The good news is that thanks to a growing body of research, we now know that exercise has all of these effects and more.

Wilk led a series of simple exercises including hand and arm movements in a pattern and walking around the room in an irregular pattern. Safe punching the air ahead of each person was encouraged. Mental routines included greeting each other to remember another persons name.

Kerin Cook, of Physical Therapy of Evangelical, told her breakout session that core strength could improve balance, posture, continence and sexual function.

Kimberly Criswell, an Evangelical dietitian-nutritionist, discussed the importance of lab tests to monitor for prediabetes.

Stress and sleep deprivation, Criswell said, can exacerbate the conditions which could lead to a prediabetic diagnosis. Exercising steadily for about 150 minutes per week was helpful, as was losing 5% to 7% body weight for most people.

Stacie Gill, Evangelical associate vice president for capital planning, projects and facilities, offered a brief history of the institution from its founding in the mid-1920s to PRIME, its most recent expansion. Gill noted that Evangelical has expanded in every decade of its existence, and that PRIME was on schedule to open in summer 2020.

Gill also asked how many of the dozens of women attending in the Kelly Room at Country Cupboard had either been born or given birth at Evan. More than half raised their hands, with some noting they had done both.

More than 500 groups nationwide were scheduled to hold similar fitness events Wednesday with an estimated 70,000 women expected to participate.

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National Women's Health and Fitness Day observed | Local News - Milton Daily Standard

Amazon is building wireless earbuds that offer Alexa voice assistant access, and fitness tracking for use during activities, according to a new report from CNBC. These earbuds, combined with a new, larger Echo designed to provide more premium sound, could feature into Amazons hardware event taking place this Wednesday in Seattle, though the outlet is unclear on the release timeline for this gear based on its source.

These earbuds would be a major new product for Amazon, and would be the companys first foray into personal health and fitness devices. While Amazon has either built or bought products in a wide range of connected gadget categories, including smart home and smart speakers in particular, so far it hasnt seemed all that aggressive in personal health, even as Apple, Samsung and others have invested heavily in these areas.

CNBCs report says that these new Alexa buds will have an accelerometer on board for measuring motion, and will be able to also provide distance tracking, calories burned and pace in other words, all the things that youd expect to track with a fitness wearable like the Apple Watch or a Fitbit.

Leaving aside their fitness features, earbuds would provide Amazon a way to deliver a more portable Alexa for people to take with them outside of the house. The company has partnered with other headphone makers on similar third-party Alexa integrations, and theyve also experimented with bringing Alexa to the car, for instance, but its largely still a home-based assistant, successful as its been.

Helping the appeal of these reported new products, the buds are said to be retailing for under $100, which will put them at a big price advantage when compared to similar offerings from either dedicated audio companies and headphone makes, and to potential rivals like Apples AirPods. Though the report indicates that theyll still rely on being connected to an iPhone or Android device for connectivity, as they wont have their own data connection.

Amazon is also readying a bigger echo that has a built-in woofer and overall better sound than its existing lineup, according to CNBC . That mirrors a report from July from Bloomberg that also said Amazon was readying a high-end echo, with a planned launch for next year.

Some or all of these new hardware devices could make their debut at Wednesdays event, but it seems likely a lot of what well see will be a surprise.

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Amazon might reveal fitness-tracking Alexa wireless earbuds, Echo with better sound this week - TechCrunch

Sept. 25 is National Womens Health and Fitness Day, and Andrea Weibel of Ashland has suggestions for staying healthy and active throughout the year.

Weibel is a personal trainer, manager of the Warehouse Gym in Ashland, a chef, a wife and a mom. She also finds time to be the organizer of the Womens Wellness event in Ashland that takes place every year in July.

The event is organized to inspire women to exercise and to eat healthy, explained Weibel. Over the years, we have incorporated self-defense classes and sitting down to eat a healthy meal together.

Throughout the duration of the event, women will exercise for a full hour. This hour is filled with many different forms of exercise, ranging from Zumba to crossfit.

We encourage them to try everything so that they can find something that they like so they can incorporate that into their lives on a daily basis, she said.

This incorporation and finding an exercise someone actually enjoys is key to staying active and healthy all year.

Youve gotta find something you love in exercise, she said. If you hate running, you wont stick with it.

This sticking with it is the same with eating healthy. Weibel warns against crash diets, instead encouraging people to look at what is actually in their food and what they are eating.

Eating well has to become part of your life, she said. Youre watching portions and what you eat every day, it cant start and stop.

Being a chef, she is able to understand where her familys food comes from more closely.

I know how to cook from scratch, so we dont buy prepackaged and processed foods. Its healthier when its made at home - we can watch the fat, sodium and sugar we put into our meals.

Weibel shares this love of cooking and real food with her clients in the gym, as being healthy is as much in the kitchen as it is in the weight room.

She explained that her grandmother was the inspiration for her to decide to attend culinary school, and that she met her husband while they were both in culinary school. Now, having a background as a chef, she can take those delicious meals her grandmother made and transform them into modern, healthier dishes for her own family.

When youre raising a family, you eat what the kids eat, she said.

This is what really inspired her to become a personal trainer. Before this, she was a pastry chef for 12 years.

My health wasnt the best toward the last couple of years I had the bakery, she said. As a chef, I have to taste everything, and owning a pastry shop meant what I was tasting wasnt always the best for me.

So she took her life in another direction. She closed the bakery and obtained her certification as a personal trainer. Now, she encourages others to strive for a healthier lifestyle as she has.

Weibel stressed that everyone has time for exercise, whether they belong to a gym or not.

You need 150 minutes of exercise a week, she said. When you break it down, thats only 5 days a week for 30 minutes a day. When you put it like that, there is no good excuse for skipping exercise! Everyone has 30 minutes they can put aside in their day.

For this National Womens Health and Fitness Day, follow Weibels advice by starting with those 30 minutes of exercise and a healthy, home cooked meal. Share your health and fitness day celebrations with us on social media with the hashtag #ThriveInThe419!

Our content is free and always will be - but we rely on your support to sustain it.

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Ashland trainer empowers women to stick with healthy living year-round - Richland Source

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Global Wireless Health and Fitness Devices Market Growth, Strategic Insight, Leading Industry Players and Forecasts 2019-2025 - Space Market Research

Camille Harris performs choreographed dance moves with a fan at a soul line dancing social event in Washington, D.C. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

Camille Harris performs choreographed dance moves with a fan at a soul line dancing social event in Washington, D.C.

We all know we should be exercising, but wanting to is a different story. But what if your exercise regimen was the highlight of your week, a chance not just to get active but to see all of your friends?

Enter soul line dancing.

Soul line dancing like country line dancing is really just choreographed dance moves that you do in a group, without a partner. The Electric Slide is a classic example. The "soul" part comes from the music used like R&B, hip-hop, soul and contemporary hits.

Daryl Watson (right), a pastor at a Baptist church, says dancing keeps him in shape and helps him unwind. The Line Dance Addicts refer to him as "the Reverend"; his other nickname is "Smooth Operator." Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

Daryl Watson (right), a pastor at a Baptist church, says dancing keeps him in shape and helps him unwind. The Line Dance Addicts refer to him as "the Reverend"; his other nickname is "Smooth Operator."

It's become popular as a form of group exercise, especially among African Americans, in communities across the country. People take line dance classes at local churches, gyms and community recreation and senior centers. They adopt team names like the Sassy Steppers or the Rockettes. People come for the fitness, but they stay for the friends and the broader health benefits that come with having a supportive community.

Find more stories about your life and health

This story comes from Life Kit, NPR's family of podcasts for making life better everything from exercise to raising kids to making friends. For more, sign up for the newsletter and follow @NPRLifeKit on Twitter.

"It's a sneaky way to get exercise in," says Washington, D.C., resident and soul dancing devotee Andrea Powell. "You're exercising but you're not labeling it as exercise, because you're just having so much fun."

"I love the people, I love the exercise, it's good for your brain," she says.

Powell has been dancing for about four and a half years with the Line Dance Addicts, a line dance class at the Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in D.C.'s Brookland neighborhood. Her fellow Addicts dancer, Daryl Watson, is a pastor at a local Baptist church. Everyone calls him "the Reverend." He says dancing helps him unwind after long days spent ministering to the faithful.

"Saving souls is good, but I also got to save mine, and part of saving my soul is to be human," Watson says. Dancing "keeps me human, keeps me healthy, in shape and fit."

Paula Allen, "Queen Poobah," operates the music for the dance night. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

Paula Allen, "Queen Poobah," operates the music for the dance night.

Watson, Powell and other regulars attend classes at Turkey Thicket taught by instructor Paula Allen. She patiently explains the steps to a new dance until everyone present has the moves down. There's a lot of fancy-looking foot work involved stepping forward, backward and to the side, with some sliding and turning but it's not cardio intensive. Less heart-racing beats of a Zumba class, more playful moves akin to the Macarena or the Cha-Cha Slide.

Paula Allen teaches soul line dancing classes twice a week at the Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in D.C.'s Brookland neighborhood. Olivia Falcigno/NPR hide caption

Paula Allen teaches soul line dancing classes twice a week at the Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in D.C.'s Brookland neighborhood.

But can something this fun really count as exercise? Absolutely, says Terri Lipman, a professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. "Yes, it's dance. Yes, it's fun, but it is efficient in improving cardiovascular health and providing activity," she says.

Since 2012, Lipman has been running and collecting data on a community soul line dancing program called Dance for Health. Based in West Philadelphia, a community with high poverty rates and many children at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, the program was designed to get kids and adults in the community more physically active. Her research shows that line dancing gets heart rates pumping enough to count as moderate exercise.

"I go to the gym and no one really looks very happy in the gym," Lipman says. But at the Dance for Health line dancing classes, "everyone is smiling. There is such enjoyment that is part of music and part of rhythm, and is almost innate in humans." Another bonus: Unlike running on a treadmill, line dancing is an inherently social activity and research suggests that making exercise both fun and social are keys to creating a habit that sticks.

At a Friday night line dancing social event held at Turkey Thicket, dancers showed off their choreographed moves set to hip-hop and R&B music. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

At a Friday night line dancing social event held at Turkey Thicket, dancers showed off their choreographed moves set to hip-hop and R&B music.

Although many of the line dances are not cardio intensive, they rely on fancy footwork and moves that count as moderate exercise. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

Although many of the line dances are not cardio intensive, they rely on fancy footwork and moves that count as moderate exercise.

Lipman notes that dance in general has also been shown to help with depression and improve mobility and memory. The memory benefits, particularly in older adults, come from the fact that dance requires us to remember patterns, "so it's also muscle memory in addition to cognitive memory," she explains.

When it comes specifically to soul line dancing, Lipman's research suggests another major benefit: the social support gained from being part of a community of dancers. When Dance for Health participants were asked what brought them back to class every week, "what they told us was that it was the social support and the relationship-building that was part of this program," Lipman says. "That was something that we had seen was important, but we didn't realize it was key to what the community felt was important."

The Addicts take to the basketball court to perform during the social. '"The appeal is togetherness," Allen says. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

The Addicts take to the basketball court to perform during the social. '"The appeal is togetherness," Allen says.

That sense of community was certainly evident among the line dancers I met through Paula Allen's dance class in D.C. Some of the Addicts even travel together to line dance gatherings around the country. Allen and the team also host events for dance teams from around the D.C. region.

One of the Addicts, Marcia Lee, started coming in 2014. At the time, she says, she was out of work and "going through some things in my life." Allen and her dance mates, she says, are "straight family. They just take you in, love you from the very beginning."

Allen says many of her students have been with her since she first started teaching the class six years ago. "The appeal is togetherness," she says.

Deedee Washington, who has been an Addict for four years, brings her toddler an honorary Addict with her to class. As for her fellow dancers, Washington says: "They're my line dance family."

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For Exercise That Moves Bodies And Hearts, Try Soul LIne Dancing : Shots - Health News - NPR

Ever skipped a run one day only to find that short-term break stretch into weeks without a workout? Or maybe youve been sidelined with an injury and are wondering how that hiatus will take a toll on your overall fitness.

Its no surprise that an exercise break could mess with your fitness, but did you ever wonder how muchand how long it takes to happen? Research conducted at the University of Liverpool in the U.K. sought to answer that question.

In the preliminary study, which was presented at this years Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Barcelona, Spain, 28 individuals who typically walked over 10,000 steps per day reduced their steps by around 10,000 stepsmeaning, becoming almost completely sedentaryand swapped walks or other forms of exercise for an additional 103 minutes of sedentary time per day.

After 14 days, the researchers analyzed the participants overall fitness levels, which they measured through a combination of VO2 peak (how efficiently oxygen is used during peak exercise effort) and cardiovascular function by blood vessel health. They discovered that their cardiovascular function decreased by nearly 2 percent and VO2 peak decreased by 4 percent, leading to an overall fitness levels drop of as much as 4 percent.

Whats more, their metabolic health took a dip, too: Their total body fat increased by 0.5 percent, waist circumference by one-third of an inch, and liver fat by 2 percent. They also became more insulin resistant, a condition where your body does not respond as readily to insulin as it should, causing excess blood sugar to build up in your bloodstream and raising your risk of type 2 diabetes.

[Build your personalized and adaptive training plan for FREE with Runcoach.]

These negative health effects are likely a product of muscle underuse: When you stop exercising, your muscles contract less frequently, and you reduce the activation of an enzyme called AMPK, which aids blood sugar absorption for fuel, Kelly Bowden Davies, Ph.D., professor of Sport and Exercise Science at Newcastle University, U.K told Runners World.

The lack of shear stress, or the heavier force of blood flow on vessel walls during exercise, may contribute to poorer blood vessel health. Thats because the more you exerciseand get your blood pumpingthe healthier your heart and arteries will likely be.

But that doesnt mean you should panic if you let a few weeks of training slip away from you. The researchers also studied how long it takes to get this fitness back, and those results were a little more encouraging.

After the participants resumed exercise, the researchers again tested their fitness levels 14 days laterthe same amount of time that they restedand found that they had returned to their baseline.

The best way to offset these health consequences is to be sure to engage in habitual physical activity, according to the study. So even if you cant do your regular workout, simply getting a small boost of exercise during the day, such as getting out for a walk at lunch, can help.

But even if you are sidelined with an injury for a couple weeksor circumstances temporarily take you away from your workout routineyour fitness levels should bounce back quickly when you resume.

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Heres How Much Just 14 Days of Inactivity Can Cut Your Fitness Level - runnersworld.com

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle talk about mental health, they aren't just opening up about their own experiences they're on a mission to dispel the stigma surrounding mental illness. The new parents are currently on their royal tour of Southern Africa, and on Tuesday, they stopped by Monwabisi Beach in Cape Town to talk about emotional and mental health with the organization Waves For Change. Harry and Meghan are often talking about the importance of these fluid conversations, and this time, they spoke about it on a global level.

"You see that no matter where you are in the world, if you're a small community or a township if you're in a big city it's that everyone is dealing with a different version of the same thing," Meghan said, according to People. "Globally, I think there's a bit of a consciousness crisis, and so the fact we're able to be here together to see on the ground so much good work that's being done, just because people are willing to talk to each other about it and someone's willing to listen is huge . . . [It] doesn't matter where you are, we're all sort of trying to power through and find some optimism."

As for Prince Harry, he wants the world to do a better job at distinguishing between mental health and mental illness. "I think most of the stigma is around mental illness [and] we need to separate the two . . . mental health, which is every single one of us, and mental illness, which could be every single one of us," the Duke of Sussex said. "I think they need to be separated; the mental health element touches on so much of what we're exposed to, these experiences that these kids and every single one of us have been through."

He added, "Everyone has experienced trauma or likely to experience trauma at some point during their lives. We need to try, not [to] eradicate it, but to learn from previous generations so there's not a perpetual cycle."

Waves For Change is a non-profit organization focused on surf therapy and mentorship to deal with emotional and psychological stress in some of the most at-risk areas across South Africa. Prince Harry and Meghan joined them on the beach for a group bonding exercise and the candid conversation about mental health. Find out more about the royal tour across Southern Africa here.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Talk About Mental Health and "Finding Optimism" - POPSUGAR

Stepping up the pace of your walk or run a couple of times a week is one way to add intensity to your workout schedule.Peter McCabe / MONTREAL GAZETTE

Twenty years ago health advocates decided the only way to get more people exercising was to get rid of its no pain, no gain reputation. So instead of promoting the benefit of working up a good sweat, they started selling the value of light- and medium-intensity exercise. Suddenly activities like gardening and housework were part of the exercise mix.

Nowadays, tough workouts are back in style. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is all the rage, with its pitch geared to the masses who claim that lack of time is the reason they dont exercise. Headlines boasting that health and fitness benefits can be gained in as little as five minutes of exercise a day are everywhere.

But, if improved health and better odds of living longer are your primary goals, theres no need to adopt a no pain, no gain attitude. The current recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week is more than enough to fulfill your goal. But can health and mortality risk be further improved if exercisers add more sweat-inducing workouts into their weekly routine?

Health experts already make accommodation for those who prefer to work out with more intensity, recommending just 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week, which suggests that there is a baseline level of energy expenditure needed to produce improved health outcomes. What we dont know is whether swapping out some of those 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise for workouts of a higher intensity will result in even more reductions in mortality and a greater boost in overall health.

Using data from large British studies that spanned 1994 to 2011, a team of Australian researchers reviewed the exercise habits (frequency, duration, intensity and type of exercise) of 64,913 respondents, 44 per cent of them men and 56 per cent women. Their goal was to find out whether those who reported bouts of vigorous activity (intense enough to get people out of breath and make them sweat) realized greater health benefits than those whose physical activity was limited to moderate-intensive exercise (that which produced a slight increase in heart rate).

Turns out that working up a sweat is worth the extra effort.

We found a 15-per-cent risk reduction (in all-cause mortality) in participants who achieved the recommended 150 minutes of MVPA (moderate-vigorous physical activity) and reported 30 per cent or more of vigorous activity, reported the researchers.

If the idea of a vigorous workout makes you nervous, theres nothing in this study that suggests you need to take your workout into the zone where discomfort meets pain. Instead, try pushing yourself until it takes effort to sustain the intensity. Thats a vigorous workout. And you dont need to spend your whole workout in that zone. Start with one-minute bouts of extra effort and then take it down a notch or two to a more comfortable pace. The trick is to slowly work up to the point where you feel capable of sustaining a workout that pushes your physical limits.

But dont just do it for the boost in health and longevity. There are more rewards to finding that extra gear than just upping the odds of living longer. Confidence grows as you successfully challenge yourself. And once you become more confident in your ability to test your physical limits, youll feel more comfortable trying new workouts, experimenting with different intensities and setting new goals. Not to mention the fact that those short, but intense, workouts that are all the rage, are now firmly within your grasp.

The other interesting finding in the Australian study is that the people most likely to log higher intensity workouts tended to be younger males, which is disappointing as there should be no gender or age limit to vigorous workouts. Stepping up the pace of your walk or run, adding speedy intervals to your bike workout, hopping on the rowing machine at the gym for a quick 2,000 metre workout a couple of times a week are all simple ways to add intensity to your workout schedule.

Remember, you dont need to huff and puff your way through every workout, or for a whole workout. The goal is to boost intensity so that it compiles at least 30 per cent of your weekly exercise volume.

For me that means one shorter, faster run and one HIIT class a week, both of which take me well out of my comfort zone. And while I admit that both workouts arent always met with enthusiasm, they never fail to provide a measure of post-workout satisfaction that is unmatched by my other workouts.

So go ahead a push yourself a little, and not just for the promised boost in health benefits, but also for the boost in satisfaction that goes along with it.

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Fitness: Sweat more, live longer, enjoy the bragging rights - Montreal Gazette