Best Practice Personal Training

Like if this resonates. It definitely does with me. Well said Ian.

“In the complex world of healthcare, there exists a significant divide between what is often termed ‘healthcare’ and ‘medical care’. This separation is not just a matter of semantics but reflects a deeper issue that impacts the quality and accessibility of care. The root cause of this division is money (power), which dictates priorities and often skews the system toward profit rather than patient well-being.

Healthcare is a broad concept that includes all activities, services, and strategies aimed at maintaining and improving overall health. It involves preventive measures, health promotion, wellness programs, access to clean water, nutritious food, and ensuring healthy environments. The aim of healthcare is to empower individuals and communities to maintain their health and prevent diseases. Preventive measures like quality nutrition, public health education, sanitation infrastructure, and affordable access to essential nutrients all fall under healthcare. Vaccination campaigns are now regarded as the antithesis of healthcare by many better informed medical professionals, scientists and parents of vaccine damaged children.

Medical care, in contrast, is more narrowly focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of diseases. It typically includes services offered by healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses, and specialists who work to treat patients after they have become ill or injured. Medical care is what happens once a person enters the healthcare system with an acute or chronic condition that needs medical attention, like surgery, medications, or other therapies.

The divide between healthcare and medical care is seen in the current prioritisation of treatment over prevention in many healthcare systems worldwide. For example, according to epidemiological and other studies, an estimated 60-80% of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, and 40% of cancers, could be prevented with lifestyle changes and early health interventions . Yet, most countries allocate far more resources to medical care than to preventive healthcare initiatives. This focus on curing diseases once they occur, rather than preventing them from developing in the first place, underscores the systemic imbalance between healthcare and medical care.

The healthcare system is heavily influenced by financial incentives that often promote treatments and interventions over prevention and wellness. This results in a business model where success is measured by the number of patients treated, prescriptions written, or surgeries performed, rather than by long-term health outcomes. Pharmaceutical companies, for instance, benefit more from creating drugs that manage chronic conditions than from preventive measures that reduce the need for these drugs. Drug companies thrive on sick populations. “ Dr Ian Brighthope.

Getting back to it. Definitely appreciating being able to move again. There’s nothing like a wake up call hospital stint, to change your perspective. 20 mins swimming, 10 mins listening to AC/DC on the bike and then a pat of the doggy. Ticking some big boxes. Enjoy moving is the lesson of the day and…dogs are good for the soul :)

Aspiration isn’t a dirty word. You could be forgiven to think that we just exercise for better function at Best Practice. I do talk about that a lot. But it’s the emotion that will drive you and some times to amazing heights. Don’t suppress that. Use whatever it is that switches you on to propel health or fitness promoting behaviour! On a personal note there is a photo of me just after coming home from hospital. I’m not going to post it (you don’t need to see that!) but the ‘frailty’ that stared back at me and what that could mean was enough to scar me and then fully spark some big goals for the rest of this year. What moves you to action? I’d love to hear. There is no wrong motivator. If it pulls or pushes you off the couch, it’s a good one.

Mobility is the first priority. You can’t train or improve what you can’t move. Do you have a ‘go to’ routine? BTW. I’m back working with my fantastic clients again. It’s nice to be back.

Quick informal survey. It’s generally not great to be overly focussed on your weight. An awareness sure but obsession, not advised.

So I’m kind of breaking my own rule but after losing 11kg from the recent surgery, I’m very interested in where I’m at on more than a daily basis.

So little task for you. Weigh yourself just before you go to bed and then again immediately on waking. I’m assuming it is less in the morning but I may be wrong. I’m interested in what variation you are getting.

My result (which needs investigation) is somewhere between 1 and 1.4 kg loss.

Let me know. It’s a crude way to check your metabolism. I’ll report back when I get more info from a blood test. Ps I don’t want to lose that much overnight!

A few people have asked me what was the cause of my recent bowel obstruction problem. My first reaction and thought when I had stabbing pains all through that first night (of my….journey) went to what I last ate. Answer: An inordinate amount of dry chia seeds combined with dried fruit and coconut yoghurt. My next thought was, food poisoning from rancid chia seeds and ‘it’ll pass’. Wrong and wrong. After another 3 days of more intermittent but intense abdominal pain, my male brain decided that maybe I should see a doctor. No kid! It certainly didn’t warrant me taking up space in emergency 🙂 Long story short, GP had no clue (a simple look at my stomach would have revealed, something is very wrong right there) but given my verbal description, she half heartedly suggested an ultrasound. Anyway, after finding a 10 day wait for an appointment to do that scan and continued and concerning pain, my intelligent wife took me to emergency. I thought my suggestion of chia seeds being a trigger may have got laughed out by the very formally trained specialists. But not so, one mentioned a bowel obstruction they had seen from tapioca balls from one of those sweet tea drinks. My current working theory is that a day of way too much fibre and not enough water, topped off late at night by a silly amount of dry chia seeds (albeit in coconut yoghurt) led to a vulnerable GI environment. Perhaps the chia seeds were the trigger for the old scar tissue from my childhood appendectomy, to stop playing ball and king of strangle it. This scar tissue had been precariously positioned around my small bowel for over 40 years and then something changed. I figure that whilst everything was supple and hydrated, there was no issue. But then factor in less lubrication and swelling, possible big problem? The surgeon said ‘maybe’. He also said, ‘a lot of bad luck’. Checkout this article on the pros and cons of chia and let me know if you think my theory has support. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/chia-seeds-side-effects In the mean time, stay hydrated and limit your chia kids! It can be dangerous out there:) Happy Easter btw!

Does Eating Too Many Chia Seeds Cause Side Effects? Chia seeds are well known for their impressive array of health benefits, but eating too many of them may cause some side effects. This article explains.

I’ve read some interesting things since I’ve had the energy to comprehend some of the science around recovery and what I am experiencing. And I’ve been contemplating the rapid and significant loss of muscle I’ve seen. BTW I am super motivated to address this now. It seems that pre and post surgery nutritional status was and is critical to the recovery process. No surprise I guess. Unfortunately mine was super compromised going in to surgery and then also coming out. By the time I got to surgery it had been 14 days with zero food except for half a banana close to when the obstruction started. That starvation status meant my body had no choice but to find protein (so important for repair activity) from breaking down muscle in to its base form, essential amino acids. The post surgery ‘ileus’ - (a common adverse effect from major surgery which is a complete shutdown of the gastrointestinal tract) only poured gasoline on the fire. The irony of it huh? You get operated on to fix a blocked GI system only to have it paralysed, for an unknown length of time, as a separate reaction to that surgery. So, hear this. Nutritional status is critical, in general (but also if you happen to need major surgery!) And, whilst carbohydrate and fat is obviously important to the body too, make sure you prioritise protein because the body will. I’m starting (very) easy back in to resistance/strength training now and the need for accurate numbers on protein intake is even more important. I’m asking the body to repair and also start to rebuild. Don’t lose muscle folks! It’s what will keep you feeling younger, more so than over doing your cardio training (notice I didn’t say, ‘don’t do cardio’!) Being strong is likely to mean a bigger scope for capability as we age. Maybe it looks a bit better too :)

The topic today is the importance of a ‘health buffer’. What I found from my recent and unexpected bowel obstruction surgery, is that having room to move with your vital signs (resting heart rate, blood pressure etc) could be life saving. When I came out of surgery and was in recovery, I was figuring I’d have a fast bounce back (after all that was what I experienced after a double hernia op). I began to become aware from the nurses reactions, that I had been in the recovery area for a long time. I noticed the numbers beeping on the screen staying persistently high, resting pulse 115, blood pressure 180/110! These were bad numbers. My resting pulse is normally 45-50, blood pressure 110/70. I hate to think where I would have ended up if my base numbers were already at a high level going in. Fortunately they started to go in the right direction eventually. I’m not saying live in fear, but maybe put it in your plans starting today, to do the things that add to your capacity or ‘health buffer’. We all know what those things are: a moderate but consistent exercise routine, a diet of healthy food derived from sources as close to nature as possible, a relaxation method regularly employed and solid social and or family connections. All these things build resilience. You never know when you might need it.

Sometimes you’ve got to celebrate small wins. Recently out after a 17 day stint in hospital for an emergency bowel obstruction surgery. It was a slow recovery in hospital and also hasn’t been super quick at home either. But, positive numbers, albeit minimal, on the scales means some progress. New weight as of this morning, 64.7. 🙂 Normal weight pre surgery 74 ish (yeah I’m skinny). Lowest weight at home after hospital …63.3! With serious infection and a sometimes fatal bacteria ruled out from two recent tests, the wins are stacking up! Have a great weekend.

It's that time of year again where a lot of us assess how things have gone for the year. How is has your fitness plans gone? Are you 'fit'? Maybe run a simple step test and quantify your endurance capability/cardiovascular health. The YMCA 3 min step test is a simple and non intimidating test to see where you stand. It can create motivation for those who like numbers and won't be satisfied being labelled, "less than average" Check out this link on how to do it and how to score yourself - https://pikefitness.com/resources/calculators/ymca-3-minute-step-test/

I've been doing some work with some fantastic participants in the . There is no doubt that exercise is the best 'medicine' there is. The benefits are legion as are the 'side effects' - (increased self esteem, mood stabilising, feelings of well being etc etc). Tom always finishes with a smile on his face. I really enjoy my work in this area of health and fitness promotion.