blog #49: avoid the "holiday heart syndrome"

A holiday heart is a condition that causes irregular heartbeat in patients who are otherwise healthy individuals. Holiday heart syndrome now most commonly refers to the association between alcohol use and rhythm disturbances. 


what causes it?
stress
dehydration
alcohol-moderate amounts or binge drinking
marijuana
bing eating


symptoms?
rapid pulse
irregular heart beat
palpitations


my medical nutrition therapy professor who use to work at presbyterian hospital as a dietitian told our class that due to this condition every year the same group of people came to to hospital after the holidays (like thanksgiving and Xmas.) My professor said that many of the patients had preexisting heart conditions, and that they overeat/drank which caused palpitations so the patients were rushed to the hospital for a week of IV Lasix. 

blog #48: bleeding, bruising and ass kicking with mauy thai

Last Tuesday at 430pm I agreed to take a Muay Thai class with my friend Becca at Hype gym.


this class was lead by Darrly the creator of Meridian Touch

The class was awesome!  I left class bleeding, sweating and partially bruised, but I had a great workout and (almost) the whole time I was smiling! 


It was a small class consisting of my friend Becca, me and this huge man with multiple tattoos named Bruno. Darryl set the tone by playing metal music to keep our motivation level high which worked. 

We did:
cardio interval drills 
contact drills 
Push ups and partner clap push ups
squats on our toes
leap frogs 
sliding plank exercises (shown below)

We partnered up for contact punches and kicks while alternating the drills listed above.

In martial arts there are two forms: hard and soft. Soft form
soft forms philosophy is derived from pure yin and it tends to yield force where Hard technique meets force with force, either by directly blocking the technique with a head-on force or by cutting through at an angle with one's own force. 

so what is mauy thai?

mauy thai is a form of HARD martial arts. 

• Muay Thai practitioners calcify their shins in order to hit harder, overpower blocking techniques, check incoming kicks, and attempt to break the bones of their opponents. 
• Muay Thai is referred to as the "Art of Eight Limbs" because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes, thus using eight "points of contact", as opposed to "two points" (fists) in Western boxing and "four points" (hands and feet) used in sport-oriented martial arts.

Darryl started the class with a ritual which was to stand in a line and bow followed by taking a boxer stance with your guards up. We ended class with this same quick practice. This ritual reminded me of traditional yoga classes which start with an om or a chant, and end with shavasana (shown below.) I respect practices that are spiritually bound, and i recognize the deep roots within this martial arts practice. 

so now you try! You don't have to be a member to check this class out. Call hype for details 

blog #47: free music downloads

Many of the participants in my fitness classes have asked questions about my playlists, so today I will share my FREE sources. I play a lot of different mixes in my cardio/sculpt classes, but a few of my favorites are dj chachi and dj trip.

check out Dj Chachis page. His mixes are all free downloads (Mur mur mix from this october is a favorite)


Dj z-trip was voted "best dj in 2009." I really like how he mixes old rock songs into his albums. To get a preview of his music check out "nirvana lounge act" under singles. Again ALL albums listed on that link are free downloads. I like ztrip "get back"

t me know what you guys like.....