MUSC The Catalyst
MUSC arial view

 

MUSC Medical Links Charleston Links Archives Catalyst Advertisers Seminars and Events Research Studies Public Relations Research Grants Catalyst PDF File MUSC home page Community Happenings Campus News Applause

MUSC Medical Links Charleston Links Archives Catalyst Advertisers Seminars and Events Research Studies Public Relations Research Grants MUSC home page Community Happenings Campus News Applause

 


MUSC trainers reveal how to keep in top shape


Alicia O’Connor
Top 5 training tips
Stay hydrated. Dehydration significantly hinders athletic performance and fat metabolism.

Plank positions, such as this side plank, are a great way to work the core.

Exercise aerobically at least four times per week, 30 - 60 minutes and perform resistance training exercises two to three times per week. This reduces your risk for cardiovascular disease and helps control weight.

Cross train. Cross training relieves boredom and reduces the risk of overuse injuries.       

Make push-ups your best friend. The push-up recruits almost every muscle in the upper body and many core muscles. Anyone can do a modified push-up.

Eat a “clean” diet. Take the processed foods out of your diet and eat foods in their most natural state (whole foods). “If it doesn’t have a mother or come from the ground, don’t eat it.”

Her personal workout plan
Her passions are her motivation for exercise. She lives to snowski and surf so she uses her fitness routine to stay conditioned for those sports. She does cycling, push-ups and TRX suspension training to keep up her strength and endurance.
  
She gets her clients to tap into their passions to stay motivated. “If you think that you might enjoy chasing a little yellow ball around on a tennis court or a white one around the golf course, then do it. You may need to start by improving your fitness level first, but now you have a goal and that makes getting fit much easier.”
She keeps her nutrition plan simple,  focusing on nutritionally-dense, mostly organic food. “I even think of eating for medicinal purposes. Like Hippocrates said, ‘Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.’ I focus on a whole foods, plant-based diet with a little fish. I eat a banana, oatmeal and a variety of nuts and berries every morning for breakfast.

Her favorite motivational reads for a healthier lifestyle are: “Younger Next Year”— Crowley and Lodge and “It’s Not About the Bike”—Lance Armstrong. 

Lillie Schulten
Schulten became a group exercise instructor when she was 55 and a personal trainer when she was 60. She teaches six to eight classes a week at MUSC’s Wellness Center.

Her top 6 tips
It’s never too late to get in the best shape of your life. To her, exercise is about movement—any kind. It’s about improving wellness and the quality of life. She does something active every day and recommends people start with just 30 minutes a day of some type of activity. Schulten didn’t join a gym until she was 40 and didn’t start using the weight room until 2001. Age is not a barrier.

Make flexibility a priority. Schulten said she used to be teased about how inflexible she was. Now flexibility is a critical component of her training. She has a trainer, and they focus on flexibility during her sessions. It’s one of the most overlooked components in many people’s plans. “I can do things at 60 that I’ve never been able to do before.”

Examine your mindset. People have to want it to happen. “If you can see it—visualize how you want to be, then you can make it happen.” The same is true for the quality of the workout. The best workouts are those where you do more than just go through the motions, she said. “You have to be present.”

Make fitness a social event. Schulten said there are classes she attends just because she knows friends are waiting. Everyone can benefit from a support network.

Consider a personal trainer. New exercisers really can benefit from an evaluation that sets up a plan that incrementally increases in difficulty. It’s the best way to be safe, avoid injury and get motivation. Her trainer pushes her to do more than she would on her own.

Eat clean. Focus on whole-grain, natural foods with as little processing as possible. A sample menu for her: Breakfast—oatmeal, egg whites and fruit; snack—almonds; lunch—salad with grilled meat; and dinner is whatever she wants with portion control in mind. Proportions on her plate generally are three-fourths vegetable to one-fourth protein. She drinks water all day. Beware of products with more than five ingredients and be careful not to let blood sugar levels drop. She eats five times a day, counting snacks. She likes the book, “Eat This, Not That!”

George Moultrie
His top 5 tips
Stay consistent. Consistency is the key, and the only way to acheieve long term results.

Maintain a balanced wellness routine. A balanced nutrition and exercise program will allow you to get the best out of both.

Rest and recouperate. Days off are just as important as days on, so allow your body its necessary recovery time.

Step your game up. If you have progressed beyond your current exercise routine, take it to another level.

Be an example. If your peers look to you for exercise advice, it will keep you on your toes; so, stay focused.
 
His personal workout plan
Monday: Run- 2-4 miles; Resistance training-Upper body/core
Tuesday: Swim- 1 hour; Resistance-Lower body/calesthenics
Wednesday: Run-30 minutes; Resistance-Core/calesthenics
Thursday:  Swim- 1 hour;  Resistance-Core/calesthenics
Friday:  Run- Intervals (treadmill); Resistance- Upper body/core
Saturday:  Swim- 1 hour; Resistance- Lower body/calesthenics
Sunday:  Off

Nutrition is a critical piece of the puzzle. A sample menu for him:
Breakfast: Oatmeal- 1 cup; Egg Whites- .5 cup

Snack: Pineapple Blend- .75 cup; Organic Baby Spinach- 1 cup; Cashews- .25 cup; Cranberry Juice- .5 cup

Lunch: Brown Rice- .5 cup; Turkey Burger- 1 patty; Mixed Vegetables- 1 cup

Snack: Pineapple Blend- .75 cup; Organic Baby Spinach- 1 cup; Cashews- .25 cup; Cranberry Juice- .5 cup

Dinner: Brown Rice- .5 cup; Turkey Burger- 1 patty; Mixed Vegetables- 1 cup

Snack: Peanuts- .5 cup (Opt.)
For one of his sample workout schedules, visit http://www.musc.edu/catalyst/workout.html.


Friday, Jan. 14, 2011

The Catalyst Online is published weekly by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. The Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to The Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.