While ANY exercise is considered beneficial to your body and your health, to get the most heart-healthy rewards, you need to stay in the “zone.” What do you mean by zone? Heart rate zone, that is! Your optimal exercise range is usually between 40-80% of your maximum heart rate. In this zone, you will experience the greatest calorie burn and the most effective cardiovascular benefits. Many heart rate monitors measure maximum heart rate and calories burned.

Here is a simple formula you can use to find your heart rate zone range:
220- your age= maximum heart rate (MHR)
MHR x 0.5 = 50% of MHR
MHR x 0.8 = 80% of MHR
For example, if you are 40 years old, your MHR would be 180 (220-40). Your heart rate range should be between 90-144 beats per minute, based on the calculations above.

Want some more workout advice? Here are 3 tips to help keep you in shape this summer:

1. Perform exercises that use multiple muscle groups at the same time for max calorie burn in each workout session. For example, perform squats and shoulder presses instead of just shoulder presses.
2.  Complete workouts in circuits. This will require you to move faster and maintain an elevated heart rate in order to burn more calories in a short amount of time.
3. Try combination moves such as lunges with bicep curls, deadlifts and upright rows, squats and shoulder presses, and plank and rows in order to save time and get results fast!

Remember, you can eat through ANY amount of exercise if you are careful with what you are putting into your body.

Many patients express interest in nutritional supplements and vitamins. Among these, CoQ 10 has been a major topic of discussion.  CoQ10 is a fat-soluble vitamin-like substance present in every cell of the body and facilitates the production of energy within cells.  It is found naturally in many foods (particularly high amounts in organ meats, certain fish, and peanuts) and is also synthesized in the body.  CoQ 10 is the coenzyme for several mitochondrial (the cellular energy producer) enzymes.
Additionally, CoQ 10 is a powerful antioxidant, functioning as a free radical scavenger.  This may be beneficial in reducing cancer risk, enhancing immune function, and slowing the progression of atherosclerosis (cholesterol plaque in arteries).  These antioxidant effects might slow down the aging process and related degenerative diseases.  Patients suffering from congestive heart failure have seen improvement with CoQ 10 as well.
The dosage recommendations for CoQ 10 vary, but between 60mg and 100mg daily is effective and well tolerated.

Within the last 15 years the sale of fish and flax oils has skyrocketed.  Generally people hear they are good and they go out and buy them without really understanding why or which one to buy.  Some people are confused which one is better and which brand to buy.  To explain the pros and cons of both I will need to explain a little more about how our body utilizes certain fats.

          The human body needs two essential fatty acids in their diet, which are linoleic acid (omega-6) and alpha-linolenic (omega-3).  The body uses these fatty acids to produce larger fats which are required by the body.  The body can convert linoleic acid into a longer chain fatty acid called arachidonic acid (AA).  Likewise the body uses alpha-linolenic to produce eicosapentaneoic acid (EPA) and then to docosahexaeoic acid (DHA).  Unfortunately, the body uses the same enzymes to convert linoleic acid into AA as it does to produce alpha-linolenic into EPA and DHA. 

The American diet is extremely high in omega-6 fatty acids which are predominately found in plant oils such as soy, corn, safflower, sunflower, and cottenseed oils.  Thanks to factory farming our meat as also changed from being high in omega-3s (free range cows eating grass) to high in omega-6 (feedlot cows eating mainly corn and soy).  Experts agree the omega 6:omega 3 ratio should be between 1:1 to 4:1.  Today our average is 20:1.  The omega-6 fatty acids turn into proinflammatory chemicals in the body whereas the omega-3 fatty acids turn into anti-inflammatory chemicals in the body. 

Supplementing with flax is very beneficial but if your diet is still high in omega-6 fatty acids then your body will not convert the alpha-linolenic acid found in flax into EPA and DHA efficiently.  However, if you take fish oil, it is already in the form of EPA and DHA.  EPA and DHA are essential for normal brain development, eye sight, healthy heart function, and other functions.  Therefore it is beneficial to consider taking fish oil supplement or consume at least 2 servings of fatty fish (salmon, mackeral, herring, sardines, anchovies) and/or seafood per week.  Also, flax seed is very high in fiber, which most Americans do not get enough fiber in their diet.  Flax oil does not have any fiber, so the most beneficial way to incorporate flax into your diet is to buy ground flax seed and put 1-2 TBSP into your oatmeal, smoothie, etc.  The flax has to be ground or your body will not be able to break down the seeds and absorb the omega-3s.

The three things to look for with fish oil supplements is that they are free from mercury and PCB contaminants, molecularly distillated, and contain no additives.  Generally speaking, the higher on the food chain the more contaminated the fish is.  For example, sharks are very contaminated with mercury and should not be consumed.  Anchovies and sardines are very low on the food chain and have low levels of mercury and PCB.   Fish from the Atlantic (near United States) are usually highest in contaminants and fish from the Alaskan Pacific are usually the cleanest.  Molecular distallation is a process that further removes any mercury or PCB that the fish oil may contain. 

So bottom line is to cut down your omega-6 consumption and increase your omega-3 consumption.  You can increase your omega-3 consumption easily by adding ground flax to your foods and purchasing a safe and reliable fish oil.  For your convenience, we researched the available fish oils on the market and have one made from anchovies and sardines that have undergone molecular distillation available to you.  If interested, ask us about it at your next visit.