I’m sorry for my absence from here for a little while. I have been busy preparing for the next stage in the growth of ‘Flying High’. 
I have been finalising my preparations to qualify to prescribe safe and effective exercise sessions to a variety of clients affected by and suffering from degenerative conditions and psychological disorders such as:
- Cardiovascular diseases (Ischaemia, Angina, Supraventricular Tachycardia, Arteriosclerosis, Myocardial Infarction, Stroke etc)
- Metabolic Diseases – (Diabetis and associated conditions such as peripheral neuropathy, nephropathy, Peripheral vascualr disease etc)
- Neuromuscular disorders – (Parkinsons Disease, multiple sclerosis)
- Pulmonary diseases (Asthma, Emphysema, congestive obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Orthopaedic diseases and disabilities (Osteoporosis, Arthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis)
- and those suffering from obesity and raised cholesterol.
Over the coming months I will be taking this further by liaising with a local Primary Care Trust (responsible for the management of health services in the community) in order to set up and run an “exercise on prescription” schemes which will meet the requirements of the National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF), a set of principles designed to support health care and exercise professionals to meet benchmarked standards and provide an assurance of quality.
Coronary Heart disease – the Silent Killer.
Approximately 2.1 milion people are living with coronary heart disease (CHD) in the UK. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) estimate that up to 37% of lost lives are related to people being physically inactive with 19% being related to smoking. I was staggered to discover that the majority of deaths is caused merely by not doing any exercise or meaningful activity… what a waste of precious life! So easy to have avoided and yet so many people chose to remain inactive.
The way I see it, CHD is totally preventable yet it kills 101,000 people in England every year (Figures from 2007 British Heart Foundation report). A further 1.4 million people suffer from angina and 275,000 people (almost the entire population of Bournemouth & Poole COMBINED!) have a heart attack annually. All of this as a result of poor lifestyle choices including smoking, poor diet and a woeful lack of physical activity!
It saddens me as I think of those left behind when someone is lost to CHD or other related illness. It saddens me even more when I discover that in many cases the reason for the lack of activity is a basic understanding that you don’t have to be an Olympian to make a difference to your health and fitness. An average person only needs to do 30 minutes of moderate intensity ‘activity’ per day. That includes what is called ‘activity of daily living’ (ADL’s) such as gardening, walking, cycling to work etc. There should also be a programme of weight bearing or resistance training (Seguin & Nelson 2003) to help increase lean body mass (muscle). Muscle is thermogenic and so will increase calorie burn by 40-55 calories for every extra pound of mean muscle mass gained.
To help put the intensity level into perspective, most of my clients who come to me to burn fat, start by doing nothing more than walking at a specifically targeted speed which keeps them in a target heart rate zone. (see my previous post called ‘fat for life’. ALL of them report noticeable improvements in their energy and well being within two to three weeks of starting.
It is so easy to make a start with your new lifestyle of health and fitness. There is even a great scheme that allows you to buy a bicycle via your employer to make savings on the overall cost of getting to work, getting fit and saving the environment. See www.cyclescheme.co.uk for details.
Local primary care trusts have several initiatives underway including:
- Healthy Walk Schemes ( http://www.whi.org.uk )
- Eatwise & Energise
- Pharmacy Lifestyle Programme
- Healthy Choice &
- Exercise on Referral schemes.
Some people are more motivated to start getting fit so that they can take part in an event, possibly to raise money for charity. Several of my clients are training for fun runs, 5 & 10K runs and even the London Marathon next year. Having a goal like this provides great motivation and momentum. Here are just a few events for your diary:
- Lymington 10K Run – 10th May 2009
- Poole 5 & 10K – 7th June (in aid of Julia’s House)
- Race for Life 5K – 21st June 2009
- New Forest 10 mile run – 12th July 2009
With the exception of the Lymington event (unless you are already training), if you start now, we can have you ready for any of these events by the time they come along. Go on, have a heart and give it a go!
Discounted Personal Training
I am totally committed to do my part to reduce those horrendous figures above. A multi-agency approach is the way forward I believe and it won’t be too long before I will be running my first GP Referral or Exercise Referral Scheme. In the meantime, anyone who is suffering from any of the above conditions or is obese and wants to get fit to run an event for charity can receive special discounts here a Flying High. Just call 01202 549 369 or email coach@paulbellard.com for details.
I look forward to hearing from you. Until then…
Fly High!
