How Much exercise do I need ?

This is a question I  am asked on a regular basis. Like everything else in life we all want to get maximum benefit in the shortest possible time but unfortunately I have some bad news, but it is also good news.

The reality is that to be beneficial,  exercise must place enough load on the  body so that it responds by increasing your capacity for physical work. That means that at the end of say a  30 minute walk,  you should be red in the face, breathing heavy, sweating and feel like you have  done something. It is only when you make the body work at this intensity that you will get fitter.

The good news is that the harder you exercise, the greater the health benefit. The key point here is that “hard” exercise is different between individuals and between the same individuals over time.  You must still listen to your  body and adjust your exercise to suit how you feel and for any niggling injuries that you might have.

Those with the highest level of fitness have the longest life expectancy and lowest levels of disability and disease. So if you get a greater benefit if you work harder – why wouldn’t you?

However there comes a point where excessive exercise can lead to health problems. In my near 20 years in the industry,  I would say that I have seen about 3 people who I would put in this category. The issue here is to learn to listen to your body and know when to work hard - and know when it is time to take a break from exercise. Like athletes do – we all need to allow for rest and recovery so the everyday ”athlete” needs to do the same.

What keeps you motivated ?

The most common reason for not exercising is usualy  due to “no time” . However what someone means by this is that they dont value the benefits of exercise enough to make the time and committment to exercise. There are many things in life that we might not enjoy, but we always find the time to do. How about going to work, or making time to pay bills or even cleaning your teeth in the morning! These are certainly not activities that  appear on our “must do” list, but they are things that we all do ( well most of us) to get by in modern society.

So why do many think that exercise is not something that we should put at the top our our to-do list? Wanting to live longer to see our kids grow up,  saving money by not paying out for health care and being able to have the energy to deal with work and be able to enjoy a range of recreational activities,  spring to mind for me!

But for someone who actually enjoys exercise,  that is easy for me to say.   I am one of the lucky ones in that I   actually enjoy getting up in the morning to go for a run along the beach at Lauderdale. Doing a weights session is not quite as much “fun” but I know that I will get the benefits,  so I do it.

If you are just starting out on your journey to increase fitness then you may need to consider setting yourself a short term goal to keep you motivated. I belive that by setting a series of things to train for ( and to train with others who have the  same goal)  you are much more likely to maintain a routine and achive what you set out to.

Fun runs are a fantastic event to set your sights on and we have just signed up to sponsor the new “Run the Bridge” 10 K event that is on Saturday Fenruary 7 2010. Click Here to go to their website for more details. So if you are thinking about starting something in the new year, then you might have to consider giving the Run the Bridge event a try!

The course will be very picturesque as it starts at Bellerive Oval and goes around Rosny Point and then up Rosny Hill road and across teh bridge. This will be the first time that part of the bridge is closed for such an event and Oceana is excited to be part of it.  Oceana members will receive a discount on entry and we will also be having a tent at the finish line for all to celebrate their achivement. All thsoe who enter  also receive a free 14 day pass at Oceana as well.

So why not set yourself a goal and start training now for what I belive will be one of the major sporting events in years to come. You never know you might actally enjoy it and then you will never say “no time” again. Good Luck !

The end of unlimited no fault healthcare – about time!

Some of you may have noticed that I had a letter to the editor published in the Mercury on Monday (31/8/09) which was to do with our pre occupation with weight rather than worrying about how fit we are. This was in response to a previous story in the Mercury about how the  federal government health promotion taskforce  had said that they were considering the issue of  vouchers for fresh fruit and to put more controls on food manufacturers. All good,  but there was nothing in the story that mentioned how policies were going to support improving the fitness of the community, when its headline was “Fitter Leaner Aussies”.

My point ws that we need to provide incentives and rewards for healthy choices, not only with food but in regards to exercise. But at the same time we need to stop the focus on weight loss and focus more on fitness. A fit but fat perosn is much healthier than a lean unfit one and most people dont know that. They only think they can “win” if they lose weight.

Then on Thursday we have State Health Minister Lara Giddings saying that we may have to consider banning or restricting treatmnet for individuals who are overweight, from access to  some medical treatments. The example she used was a knee replacement for someone who is overweight, who does nothing to reduce weight and then the surgery is a failure as the new knee still has to bear the load. What about the overweight unfit smoker who is going in for their third bypass operation ? I agree with her. How on earth anyone can say that unlimited – no fault health care can continue,  is kidding themselves.

The fact is we already do restrict access to health care – its called a WAITING LIST!  We ( well some  faceless beaurocrat) decide who gets treatment depending on how severe it is, but this differs between each individual,  so why dont we make it fair and transparent for all by saying those who do the right thing and lose weight ( in extreme cases) and improve their fitness and strength go to the front of the line. This change in policy may be what is needed to make the community take some responsibility for their own health. We have mutual obligation principles in welfare so why not with health care?

Dont get me wrong, those who are unfortunate enough to get an illness through no fault of their own should have unlimited access to what ever is needed, but we simply cant justify,  let alone afford,  to have people continuing to make unhealthy choices and then expect OR DEMAND,  unlimited health care.

So at least Lara Giddings is starting to have the debate we need to have and I for one congratulate her for that. What ever we do will most likley occur over a few years but there must be some changes to what we currently do. It is unsustainable, it has the potential to bankrupt all economies well before global warming does, and it IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. If we do not make a stand on this issue there will be no winners. If all we get is more of the same, we will have more sick people and still nothing left over for improved education, welfare, environmental or local infrastructure.

We have a choice – continue to slowly kill ourselves or do something that will improve the quality of life for all. It’s a no brainer for me!

The poor old postie !

It has been interesting to read recent media debate about Australia post trying to ask all posties to keep their weight below 100kg so they are able to do their work. Apparently the postie bikes have a maximum weight limit that means that a   driver weight of more then 100kg ( plus mail ) does not go over the safe operating levels for the bikes.

Well I see this as a clear cut health and safety issue that should not even be seen to be controversial at all. As an employer Australia Post have a responsibility to their staff to ensure that they  are working in a safe environment at all times. If the total weight of bike, mail and driver exceeds 145 kg then the operation of the bike  can no longer safely occur. I would suggest that it would be more of an issue if Aust Post actually allowed their workers to continue to use the postie bike if the user was in fact overweight.

Either way Aust Post cant win, do nothing and be sued for negligence and unsafe work practices or  enforce appropriate guidelines and be blasted by the media and the union movement.  Being overweight is not a “medical condition” it is not something you catch and it is certainly something that is caused by the individual. I remember the same “outrage” a few months ago when Myer put an older lady on sick leave because she could not squat down to empty cash draws that were a major part of her role.

I have also worked with many poeple  over the years who sustained a “work related” back injury. However the only aspect that was   work related was that it happened at work but was not caused by the work. Sure there are some people who sustain an injury at work, which is caused by the work itself, but many more injuries will occur over the next few years if companies cannot develop and enforce guidelines similar to what Aust Post and Myer have tried to do.  

We  cant afford the cost of health care now so how are we going to handle the  cost of dealing with further increases in weight and physical dysfunction due to inactivity if this is left to continue to spiral out of control? The single biggest cause of workplace injury is strains and sprains, but how many of these could be prevented if people exercised more? Also how many stress claims could be prevented with a fitter healthier workforce? That is what we should all be putting our energies into – not trying to say “it is not their fault”.

There is only 1 way we can deal with this situation and that is to create an acceptance of the need for everyone to accept responsibility for the own health and wellbeing. If you are overweight and at risk of injury as a result then it must be the individuals responsibility to    do something about it. Sure we owe it to people to provide support for healthy behaviours and work with all staff over time so that they are not simply thrown onto the scrap heap, but something has to give.

We  cant have it both ways. A business cant be held responsible for injuries sustained at work if they are not allowed to control the risk of the same occurring. Unions also need to recognise that their role is to protect the health and safety of their  members and NOT preventing some workers from doing high risk jobs is not helping anyone. And in the  long run will cost jobs and  livelihoods for many more if this type of approach  goes unchecked.

Its bad enough that we have to buy new super sized ambulances and hospital beds to accommodate the obese, but to now suggest that “it is not their fault” is only going to make the situation worse.

To change the behaviour of 22 million people will take  a combination of a carrot and a stick. While i do look forward to the rewarding of healthy behaviours, I also look forward to people being held accountable for their physical health, because I for one am sick of subsidising the health care and work related costs of  people who wont take responsibility for their own health.

Our Ability to change health care focus

 

 

It has  been interesting to see the way the swine flu pandemic has played out around the world. Initially we were led to  believe that we were going to be in big trouble if the virus spread. News reports every hour about how many cases and where they were occurring scared the bejesus out of most of us.

 

Then the next phase was when they started to happen closer to home. First on the mainland, then locally and when we saw the first few deaths, who knew what was going to happen.

 

Now we appear to be in stage 3 where there are a few deaths, which are certainly tragic for those concerned but in reality so few to justify the huge media attention and concern. It is now obvious that the swine flu is quite mild for virtually all but the very young and old, usually with other medical complications,  which seem to be the actual cause of death.

 

We now also know that in any normal year we see more deaths form other forms of influenza that have gone on unreported. The questions  we must now ask ourselves are:

 

Why the panic about swine flu being worse than normal flu ?

 

Why have we thrown so many  resources into trying to tackle something that is nowhere near as serious as first  thought?

 

This shows that  when it comes to something in health that apparently is going to be a major issue we can immediately shift public policy to tackle its perceived  potential impact.

 

Clinics were set up, extra resources found within health departments, millions of dollars was made available for public awareness campaigns, staff were moved to different areas and basically in real terms this was done within only 2 weeks or so of the problem being discovered.

 

But when we look at the way we as a society have managed how we prevent heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and other conditions such as low back and other musculo skeletal injury, we keep doing the same old thing as we have always done.

 

Successive governments and ministers at both state and federal levels talk about prevention and how important it is,  but the problem is that NOTHING EVER CHANGES!!!

 

If, as we have seen with swine flu, whole armies of people can be mobilised to create awareness and deliver interventions, why on earth are we waiting for the same political and bureaucratic will to do something about increasing the health of the community?

 

It is simply not good enough on the part of our policy makers and the vested interests feeding off this ill health must be brought to account. If we can make change in such a rapid way with swine flue we must all demand that the same be done to support healthy lifestyles and to change the way we spend money on health.

 

The ridiculous thing about all this is that we have known about the impending crisis with inactivity, overweight and obesity and its health problems and what has  our response been? TALK!

 

So I challenge anyone to tell me that “it takes time” to change our focus. It does not have to take time, it just needs someone to actually do something to stop the focus on hospitals, doctors and  medication.

 

We think that global warming is potentially going to cost us all, well health care already is costing us an absolute fortune and what are we getting for it? MORE SICK PEOPLE.

 

When is our focus going to shift to having more healthy people?

 

 

 

 

Do we really want nurses in Schools to teach exercise?

It was interesting to read Kevins Rudd’s plan to reform the hospital system this week.  Sounded like an exercise in rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. There will be little change in outcomes without  real changes in preventing illness and disease, but I think you know my thoughts on that issue!

Anyway i noticed one policy proposal – “to have nurses in schools to ensure that kids get enough exercise” among other things. While there may be a role for appropriately trained nurses to deal with nutrition and other health issues, they are not the answer to exercise in schools.

I am sure that there are some who could do a good job, but why on earth would you use someone with absolutely no training in exercise design, programming and instruction be responsible for the same?  We currently have plenty of teachers who are failing in their duty to deliver daily PE because they have similar training deficiencies or they dont do it themselves!

My belief is that teachers should be responsible for the  delivery of daily PE   - but the reality is that not many classroom teachers in primary schools are doing their best in this area.  It should be a key KPI for all teachers and i am all for paying teachers more – as long as we get rid of the  poor ones ( and we have all experienced them in our years at school).

My solution to the problem is to have trainees aged around 18 + employed by the education department to assist the PE teacher in the delivery of daily PE and all the other physical education components. We simply cant afford to employ thousands more PE teachers or nurses for that matter and we will get a much bigger bang for our buck by using junior staff.

These trainees would need to completea Certificate 3 in Fitness and be trained to deliver daily PE as mentioned but also things such as

  • Arranging lunch time sports
  • Cleaning out sports store room – including minor repairs and maintenance of equipment and grounds
  • Assisting with after school sports coaching and Active After Schools programs

Plus some of the  more menial administrative tasks that could be taken off the PE teacher so they can focus on program delivery and improvement.

These trainees can also spend time at a couple of schools and also health clubs which will help the industry by providing a new workforce that can help work with the older population once government policy catches up in regards to prevention and it would also help to set up a partnership with schools and the local health club.

This woudlalso create a fantastic career path those who may not be great sportspeople but are interested in non competitive fitness and exercise pursuits. ( which is one of te problems with our sports focussed PE programs in schools at the moment) This will also help create a “culture” of exercise and fitness amongst the kids and drive the move to more active lifestyles.

Those who are more academic can go through to a full degree and this way our PE teachers would end up being the best of the best. 

Anyway – I will try and have this proposal put in front of policy makers to see if there is some chance it it happening. In the meantime if any of you see Kevin 07 wandering the streets – tell him about it!

Dean Wins Business Award

I was very surprsied and pleased to win an award from the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Business Leader Awards. I won the Owner Manager 2009 award in late May.

I was up against some stiff opposition, but it was great to be recognised for not only the work involved in developing and running Oceana for the past 13 years, but also the advocacy work I do to try and get exercise to the point where everyone realises that it is the only way we are going to fix our healthcare crisis.

 The winners in the five categories were:

1.      Deloitte Professional Leader of the Year, Corporate: Ros Cornish, CEO of Lady Gowrie Tasmania.  

2.      WHK Denison Professional Leader of the Year for Small to Medium Business: Janis McKenna CEO Carers Association of Tasmania Inc. 

3.      Corporate Communications Professional Manager of the Year: Amanda Quealy, CEO of the Hobart Clinic. 

4.       National Australia Bank Owner Manager of the Year: Dean Ewington, Managing Director, Oceana Health and Fitness.

5.      Hazell Bros Young Manager of the Year: Michael Larkin, Group Manager, Telecoms Aurora Energy.

Unfortunately I did not qualify for the Young Manager of the Year Award ! I can remember when a 40 year old was old, now I only wish!

The judges comments about me were:

1.      Dean Ewington, Managing Director, Oceana Health and Fitness. The judges believe Dean has well demonstrated a successfully operating business that has continued to grow over the past 13 years.   Recently buying out his partner, Dean has been pursuing and implementing other areas of growth within the business and in the health and fitness sector generally. The judges were particularly impressed with his passion for and commitment to looking at the bigger picture – that is the health of the Tasmanian community.  He demonstrated that he is a strong and vocal advocate of the need for a greater focus on health and fitness to take the strain off our hospital system.  The judges believe that while running his business, he is unselfishly providing something tangible for the community going forward.

Anyway thanks to the TCCI, Australian Wealth, The AIM & Chartered Accountants for their sponsorship of the awards. 

 
Also thanks to Jacki for coming along for the journey with me for the past 19 years and the important role she has played in the success of Oceana, and also all the staff who make my job easy ( well most of the time!) But I think that is the key – you must have great staff and I hope good leadership is an important  part of why most of them stay so long. 
 
A special thanks to my assistant manager Heath Barwick as well. And while I am at it I have to thank my father Brian and mother Rosemary who have always been there for me and given me the opportunity to dream to strive to do what many said would not be achieveable  and something I love doing. You know you are  a lucky person when you do something that you truly enjoy and love doing.  Thank you also to all the members and casuals who have patronised  Oceana over the years and I hope that the club can be in a position to be here for many more to come and actually play a much bigger role in my dream of making the Eastern Shore the “fittest and  healthiest” community in the world!

Showers in Poolside changerooms

As you know we have had some issues with low pressure and variable temperatures in the pool showers in recent times. We have been playing around with the mixing valves and checking shower heads and working our way back to find out what is going on. We could not find any obvious reason for this problem as they all used to work fine.

Then in mid July we had the plumbers in to check the water main coming into the building to see if it was blocked in any way. Last year there was some work done on our water main in the Electra Place Cul de Sac which may have caused some dirt and debris to wash down the  and block the supply which in turn lowers pressure and makes our system play up.

After checking all this and cleaning out the line, and putting in a new mixing valve in the ladies pool side we have been able to get all 4 showers working with normal pressure and the temperature seems to be back to where it needs to be. However this is a tricky one as we all seem to have different tolerances in terms of temperature and to be fair we have to set ip at the lower end as some people just cannot handle a hot shower. We have now set all showers at 39 degrees which is within the recommended level. ( Max of 42 in public places is recommended.)

So please let us know if there are any further problem. We check the temperature on a regular basis to make sure it stays within the recommended range. Please also do not play with any of the control valves that are in the  mens poolside. ( ladies is in the main plant room so you cant touch that)

Please also be aware that out door temperatures and your core temperature after exercise can make the water feel either hotter or colder than normal. It is a bit like that with the pool water temperature where some members ask why is the temp down when in fact it is at normal levels, it is only your perception that is different due to the above reasons.

Please be assured that we take the  maintenance of the place very seriously and set ourselves a high standard on these things. The showers was a tricky one in that it was caused by a build up of debris that we could not simply get at. We had to pick up the line at the hydrant in the car park and we could not do that until we had exhausted all other possible causes.

All seems to be working fine now and we will  endeavour to keep it that way.

But please also be conscoius to help us keep rates down by limiting all showers to a fair and reasonable 3 to 4 minutes maximum. This will also keep power costs down and help preserve fresh water. Our power and water costs have incresaed significantly in recent years and we are faced with more of the same, so please do your bit. It seems that the days of a long hot shower are over. And I would much prefer to pay for equipment upgrades and  keep prices down than hand over any more than I have to to Aurora or the new water authorities.

Seniors Exercsie Recommendations

The Federal Government has just released new guidelines for seniors for the first time. The guidelines quite rightly say that EVERYONE should be doing regular activity regardless of age and level of health, but they are still aiming the recommendations at the lowest level, that is, those who are completely sedentary.  

Most of these guidelines still do not emphasize the health benefits and the absolute necessity for all older people to do strength training. The  single most important factor in determining your likelihood of ending up in a  nursing home is your leg strength. If your legs are strong you keep active so you don’t put on weight.

However here is what the guidelines actually say, and then I will give you my version of what they should be saying.

The new physical activity recommendations include that older Australians:

  • Should do some form of physical activity – no matter what their age, weight, health problems or abilities; 
  • Should accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most, preferably all days; 
  • Should be active every day in as many ways as possible, doing a range of physical activities that incorporate fitness, strength, balance and flexibility; and 
  • Who have stopped physical activity, or who are starting a new physical activity, should start at a level that is easily manageable and gradually build up the recommended amount, type and frequency of activity.

All OK except that the guidelines should say MUST DO- and that these recommendations are the bare minimum.

Specific examples of physical activity include: 

  • Moderate fitness activities such as brisk walking, vacuuming or golf; 
  • Strength activities such as carrying groceries, moderate yard work or taking the stairs instead of the lift; 
  • Flexibility activities such as tai chi, bowls or yoga; and 
  • Balancing activities such as walking heel to toe.

The recommendations were endorsed by the Australian Health Ministers Conference late last year.

Moderate activities are OK, but more vigorous activities will produce a greater health benefit.  MORE IS BETTER – SO LET’S TELL PEOPLE THAT!

For strength training to be beneficial it must be hard and progressive, that is, you must strive to continually use heavier loads to keep increasing and maintaining strength.  That has been proven by science and carrying groceries is LIVING, it is not strength training. Same with taking the stairs.  If that is all you ever do, eventually taking the stairs and carrying groceries will get hard. All exercise must be done at an intensity that is greater than what you do in a  normal day.

Once again the recommendations tend to be what they think people will do,  not what they should be aiming for.

My concern with these soft, watered down guidelines is that those who are doing this think that is enough. Well if you want to be able to eat what you like (within reason) and be strong and healthy past 70, then your exercise should be hard enough to make you red in the face, feel like you have done something and most importantly be done 6 days a week.

It’s everyone’s own choice, follow the advice of Doctors ( who have the lowest life expectancy of all professions) or make a decision to do the best form of exercise and get the greatest benefit, or do the bare minimum and still be overweight, unfit and die a premature death.

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Time for healthcare to catch up to the science!

With the looming effect of the economic crisis still yet to fully impact on Australia ( though those who have lost their jobs already may disagree) it is time that we revisit the way we manage health and how this impacts on other government spending.

The fact remains that health care is still the biggest expenditure by government the world over. Essentially it is not health care, it is disease management and every government in the world is spending more day in day out on doing things teh same old way. People fail to look after them selves, they get sick , they see a Doctor and then they go to hospital. the medical profession treats the symptoms  and then the cycle continues.

A recent  statistic I saw was that health budgets have increased around Australia by 11% a year. And what has been the outcome of this spending ? More sick people!

Why we apparently have such a high regard for the medical profession is beyond me. Sure they are doing their best  to do what they have been trained to do, but obviously there is a problem with their training and delivery of services if we are still getting sicker. The advances in emergency medicine are amazing, but the way they manage lifestyle and chronic disease is appalling. If any other profession had failed to keep up with best practice – we would be asking qiestions, well it’s time we did that with the Medical profession.

Individual Doctors are not the problem, they are caring and do want to help, but the problem is what they are being given to help people. The only options seem to be more drugs, more hospital procedures and more illness.

That is the problem. While prevention has been talked about, nothing has been done to actually change the way we do things. The reality is Doctors know little about exercise, do not know who is qualified to do what when it comes to Fitness Professionals and I feel that they still don’t value the role that exercise can play in the prevention of virtually all disease that we see.

However it was pleasing to see Professor Garry Jennings From the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute suggest that we shlould be looking at the funding of exercise interventions as  a way of combating the spiralling health care costs. Read Full Aricle 

It is great to finally see someone else (and someone who should be taken notice of) actually acknowledge that if the benefits of exercise could be put in a pill then it would most certainly be made available on the PBS and that the government would find the money to cover its use. So why is the provision of exercise advice treated differently to all other aspects of “healthcare”. There is no justifiable reason, it’s just that we have never done it.

If we are ever going to be able to deal with a slowing economy and less government revenue, the first step must be to slow health budget blowouts and one key strategy should be to make exercise more available to everyone.  When you want legal advice you see a lawyer, when you want tax advice you see an account so when you want exercise advice see a Fitness Professional – that is what we are trained to do.