9-5? Try 8-8. How to Crush Your Busy Job and Maintain Your Health

by | Altitude Training Information, General Fitness

For many of us, the traditional job of 40 hours per week, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm is a thing of the past. If you’re fortunate enough to work at a startup or more flexible spot that has work from home options, it can sometimes be a little easier to fit physical (and mental) breaks into your day. However, there are still plenty of positions and roles that can be much more demanding and require you to be present or at least on-call for well over 40 or 50 hours per week. Hopefully you love your job if this is you – but it can make time for exercise a definite challenge.

We’ve compiled our top hacks to staying healthy when you feel like you’ve got zero time to spare. We all know the benefits of exercise: Improved anxiety and/or depression, improved self-confidence and mood, and a decreased stress response, not to mention improved blood sugar regulation and weight control, but let’s be honest – life can be really, really busy. Here’s how you can make – and keep! – an exercise routine no matter what the weeks throw at you.

Hack #1: Choose your activity based on how you want to feel.

A common mistake that we often make is trying to convince yourself to get into an activity that you…don’t even like. Maybe you read an article about how something like swimming is fantastic for your health. So you head to the pool on a Sunday afternoon and buy a pass. Once you hit the changeroom, you realize that it’s kind of chilly and cold, you forgot your flipflops and the floor is a bit gross, the pool temperature is less than ideal, and the lanes are so crowded you spend your whole time stressing about how fast or how slow you should be going and in what lane you should be in. For a few weeks you force yourself out the door, but the pool still feels cold, and your still getting kicked in the face with people on a busy weekend. Soon enough, your fresh new habit has fallen by the wayside, along with your wet bathing suit and goggles. Because wait, did you ever consider if you even really liked swimming? Especially for those taxed for time, ask yourself, what do I like doing? More importantly – How do I want to feel?

If you’re mega stressed and craving something intense, an instructor-lead cardio workout not only takes your mind off your stresses, but gets you out of your brain and kickstarts your endorphins. Or if you feel exhausted and fatigued, maybe you want to feel more rested. Perhaps try an easy yoga class to ease stress and just get your body moving in positions that are away from the desk. If you’re somewhere in the middle and feeling ambivalent about really anything at all, nothing does the trick better than a brisk walk around the block, even for 15-20 minutes. We all know activity and exercise makes you feel better, but you’re much more likely to stick with it when you can look forward to the thing that you know will do just the trick for you on any given day.

 

Hack #2: Change it up.

While many of us are self-professed creatures of habit, studies in habit-building psychology and in “sticktoitiveness” have shown time and time again that we’re much more likely to stick with a goal for the long term when we can make small microchanges to it day-to-day and week-to-week. For example, have you ever bought a new pair of running shoes and been really excited to try them out? Your run that day probably felt much more exciting and fun because of your new kicks!

By ever so slightly changing up your routine, you can keep things fresh and exciting, and trick your mind into looking forward to things that are sometimes less desirable. If you’re starting to feel stuck in a fitness rut, think about trying something new, or maybe asking a friend what they’ve been doing lately and joining them someplace you haven’t been before. There are always new and exciting places to check out in the city – and here at Altitude, we can’t wait to open our doors as the first and only place to offer altitude training in a 1,100 sq ft. chamber. Now that’s something fresh and different to get excited for!

 

Hack #3: Small things equal big things.

Sometimes there are just those days where you are not going to get a workout in. A deadline, having to pick up your child from daycare because your partner is sick, or just a day where you can’t get on the ball – these things happen. One of the easiest and simplest ways to get even a little bit of health and fitness (and sanity) in on these days is to inject “movement snacks” into your day. For example, if you struggle with back pain, make an effort to do a few little back bends and 10 mini squats every time you refill your water or go to the bathroom. If you go to the bathroom 6 times, you’ve now done 60 squats in the day. If you have a wonky shoulder or neck, invest $8 into a stretchy band and keep it in a desk drawer. Every hour, make a deal with yourself to take a five-minute break, grab your band, and do a quick shoulder stretch. Not only will this help combat postural-related problems like headaches and neck pain, but also gets your blood flowing and gives your brain a second to reset. No one can work straight through for 10 hours a day without some breaks. You owe it to yourself to take these little breaks, and when you finally head home at the end of the day, your body will thank you.

 

Hack #4: Check your health insurance policy or corporate discounts. 

You’re paying into it, don’t let it go to waste! People often wait until December and realize that they have unspent dollars of massage, physiotherapy, or acupuncture. Not only are these things great for stress management, but a good physio clinic will include a home exercise programs for you, or they can work with your particular lifestyle to help put together something specific for your needs and in line with what’s available to you. If you aren’t a gym person, you can absolutely still do equipment-free, home exercises that pack a ton of benefit. You don’t have to be hurt to utilize these services! Also be sure to check out if your company has any discounts to local gyms or other hot fitness spots – use those perks! You’ve earned it.

Always remember that your work reflects your own well-being. One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is a sound body and a sound mind.Fitness can come in all types of forms, whether it’s a few pushups at your desk while on a call, or kicking it on a treadmill in a high-energy class at 6 am. Remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, and you have to make it work for you. Above all, enjoy it, and feel good about how amazing your body and mind truly is.

About the Author:

Lauren Roberts is a Registered Physiotherapist and Founder of The Running Physio in Toronto. For more information on her team, the clinic, and for more great blog articles, visit www.therunningphysio.ca

The Great Gender Gap – The Past, Present and Future of Women in Endurance Sports

by | Altitude Training Information, Endurance

WOMEN IN ENDURANCE SPORT. For many years, sport was considered to be only for men, as women’s physiology was viewed as being less efficient, weaker, and unable to push their bodies in the rigor of sport. Prior to the 1960’s, women were banned or restricted from longer running and endurance events. This is because they were considered “too fragile” for distance sport or even shorter Olympic events like the 400 and 800m sprints.

This began the era of mass participation of women in sports, and in the 1972 Olympics the first women’s 1500m was run. The same year, eight women “legally” ran the Boston marathon. By 1984 (only 35 years ago!) the first women’s Olympic marathon was sanctioned.

Women’s Participation Grows

In 2019, 45% of runners were women and in more local smaller city races, women tend to comprise over 50% of participants. Women’s participation in running and endurance sports has come leaps and bounds in just the last several decades, but only recently has science and psychology begun to identify some profound differences between the sexes. What exactly is it that differentiates women’s performance abilities from men?

Physiological Differences

It is generally accepted that women are smaller in stature. Women have more body fat, and less absolute muscle mass and fewer and smaller muscle fibers than men. As well, women have physiologically lower VO2 max numbers than men (the maximum amount of oxygen their bodies can utilize during high-intensity exercise), which is also sensible. In power-based activities, these differences are likely where the discrepancies primarily lie. Across the board, women’s distance running and cycling records among elite athletes are typically 10-12% slower than men, although with longer distances these patterns tend to change as we’ll discuss more later. It has also been seen that men have greater running velocity and can cover more distance in a set period of time. These differences are more profound in shorter, more powerful contexts like shuttle runs or sprints.

However, when it comes to longer, slower, or more submaximal effort events, women have some interesting advantages. Women have higher prevalence of slow-twitch muscle fibres which contract less quickly, but can contract consistently for very long periods of time. The hormone estrogen also seems to improve the oxidative capacity of muscles. This means greater oxygen update and improved recovery. Men however, tend to be able to have enhanced muscle growth due to higher level of testosterone – again, benefitting sports that favour power but potentially less valuable to low-and-slow type training and racing.

What Does This Mean?

So, when women train at the same intensity as men, they are able to adapt to the same degree, and in some circumstances even more effectively. As we’ve discussed, especially in distance events, women in endurance sports who focus on endurance training are able to become more metabolically efficient and run just as far as men. The science tells us that they should be as quick, but not so fast!

Female marathon runner competing

Go a Little Longer

When it comes to ultra-endurance events, women seem to have the upper hand. Many ultra-endurance race winners in unisex races are women – and not by a small margin. This past year, German cyclist Fiona Kolbinger raced 4000km through Europe and finished the Transcontinental Race 10 hours ahead of her closest male opponent. This past May, Katie Wright beat 40 men and six other women to win the Riverhead Backyard ReLaps Ultra-marathon in New Zealand, running almost non-stop for 30 hours. It seems that when the distances get longer, the women are rising to the top.

Why is this? Well, for all of the physiological science out there, there is only just recently a rise in the “biopsychosocial model” – which essentially looks at the mind-body connection and how the mind can affect boundaries within our deeply-entrenched biological systems. In excruciatingly-long distance races, athletes are working far under their maximal power for very long periods of time. Absolute strength and power is of less importance, and mental patience and grit hold much more water. Women also tend to be better at pacing themselves and “seeing further into the future” when moderating their early-race paces. Females also tend to use more emotion-focused coping mechanisms during the pain, fatigue, and sleep deprivation points in long races. Whether its experiences like childbirth or mental toughness from, well, life, it seems that this has given women a leg up when the going gets beyond difficult.

On the Whole…

Women have traditionally been seen as the physiologically “weaker sex” for many years. Culture and society has finally started challenging these norms, as women are now participating in events similar to men, and in some cases out-performing them. While it’s unlikely that women will naturally be lifting heavier weights than men or sprinting 100m faster than men, in longer races the gap is significantly lessened. Moreover, both genders need to remember that the power of the mind is probably the greatest tool of all, and with consistent training for both mind and body, great things can be achieved.

 

About the Author:

Lauren Roberts is a Registered Physiotherapist and Founder of The Running Physio in Toronto. For more information on her team, the clinic, and for more great blog articles, visit www.therunningphysio.ca

About Altitude Athletic Training: We are a group of coaches, scientists and fitness enthusiasts who empower members of all fitness levels to reach and exceed their athletic goals. All coaches have bachelor’s degrees in kinesiology (at minimum) and will help clients every step of the way. Learn more –>

Female athlete competing

References

Boston Athletic Association. (2019). 2019 Boston Marathon Statistics. Retrieved from https://registration.baa.org/2019/cf/Public/iframe_Statistics.htm

C. Baumgart, M. H. (2014). DIFFERENT ENDURANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF FEMALE AND MALE GERMAN SOCCER PLAYERS. Biology of Sport, 227-232.

Joyner, M. J. (2016). Physiological limits to endurance exercise performance: influence of sex. The Journal of Physiology.

K.M Haizlip, B. H. (2015). Sex-Based Differences in Skeletal Muscle Kinetics and Fiber-Type Composition. American Physiological Society, 30-39.

Williams, S. (2019, August 11). Are women better ultra-endurance athletes than men?