Tenn. ranks second highest for obesity

Courtesy of WKRN Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Obesity rates are rising across the country, and Tennessee lands near the top of the list in a new report.

The "F as in Fat" report from Trust for America's Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ranks the state as the second most obese in the nation, tied with Alabama.

The report shows that 31.6 percent of adults, more men than women, in Tennessee are obese.

The state is one of eight showing rates more than 30 percent in the annual report this year.

Tennessee also has the sixth highest childhood obesity rate, at 20.6 percent.

Minority groups were also ranked state by state. Tennessee had the highest rates of obesity in the country for Latinos, while the state ranked sixth among blacks.

Poverty and lack of access to health foods and safe neighborhoods were listed as top reasons for the high rates.

State health commissioner Susan Cooper says she's disappointed by not surprised and that change will not happen overnight.

A public health survey found parents' awareness of obesity is rising too, but that knowledge has not translated into results.

With 84 percent of parents believing their children are at a healthy weight, nearly a third of teens are considered overweight.

Mississippi has had the highest rate of obesity for the past six years.

Read more about the "F as in Fat" report at HealthyAmericans.org.

Burpees and Reverse Lunge with Bicep Curl

This is first of many videos to come. In this video I am demonstrating two exercises. The first exercise is called The Burpee. Weird name yes I know! But it's a great exercise that targets the chest, shoulders(anterior), triceps,abs quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes.

The second exercise is called the Reverse Lunge with Bicep Curl. This exercise targets the biceps,quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings.
Doing multi-muscle exercises not only saves times by hitting more than one muscle group at a time but it also makes the workout a little more interesting. Enjoy!

The Oddy Body Syndrome

Ladies, what is your body's best feature? Is it your legs? Chest or your Abs? Maybe it's your butt. Whatever it is, some of you must do a lot of work to make sure it's "toned up" and looks good. Right? Well, the reason why I'm curious to know is because as a new trainer in the fitness industry I have noticed that a majority of women that either workout alone or with a friend, or hire a trainer to get them in shape only want to exercise the rectus abdominis (abs), glutes (butt) or legs. Sometimes they may want to tone up the arms but mainly the areas I just mentioned. But, what people fail to realize is if you don't work on the whole body you will have an disproportionate body, bad posture, and to put it in simple terms you will have an "oddy body." We can talk about each muscle group, but this blog will be entirely too long, so lets pick abs to discuss today since that seems to be numero uno on the females list to tighten up.

Recently, I heard a younger woman say, "I just want to lose my stomach." "I don't want to do any arms, legs, butt or back exercises, just abs." Of course as a personal trainer it's my job to create a full body workout anyway and put an emphasis on rectus abdominis and external oblique training. But there's those that still absolutely refuse to do the exercises that does not directly workout the ab area. JUST PLAIN STUBBORN! OK... maybe its because they don't have big legs, or jiggly arms so they don't feel the need to improve them. Maybe they think they'll get bulky from weights. You'll get bulky ONLY if you lift heavy weights. Your eating habit also play a big part in body size as well, but we're not going into that right now.

Let's briefly go back to the first blog I wrote about obesity. Just because your not fat does not automatically mean you are healthy. When you're not exercising your muscles on a normal basis, you're losing them. Not only that, you are also losing bone density and minerals which will cause osteoporosis which is common in the female population. One reason is due to lack of resistance training. Another reason is it could be hereditary. ALSO, there has been studies showing people that do not perform any cardio or resistance training with the lower body have a greater risk of a cardiovascular disease. Doesn't sound to good does it?! Didn't think so.

Let go back to abs momentarily. OK so you want only want workout your abs and nothing else.... POP QUIZ! What happens when you have a strong rectus abdominis wall but since you did not want to do any back exercises, your lower back is weak? ANSWER: You will have bad posture and will cause you to have back pain. Your muscles work together in more ways than you think.

There's many exercises that you can do workout multiple body parts at once. I will post some videos soon demonstrating some of them. BUT, there's one in particular that will not only work the legs (Quadriceps and Hamstrings) but it also work muscles in the glutes, lower back and you guessed it, the abs! This exercise is called the Back Squat aka " The King of Exercises." The Back Squat is one of the most basic exercises known to man. I will say it does take a little practice to get the proper technique down. Proper exercise technique is definitely important to prevent the risk of injury. Something that many people don't know is that Squats actually work the rectus abdominis more than an ab exercise does such as the crunches or sit-ups. Don't believe me? Go do some barbell squats and see how tight your abs get. Now just because it works out all of those muscle groups I just mentioned, don't think you can go do some squats for 10 reps and you're good for the week. It doesn't work like that! You still have to target each muscle individually to build up more strength. The whole point of this blog is to get you to understand that just because your goal is to tone up your legs, butt, or abs does not mean you can neglect the rest of your body or you will be "Oddy Body".

Many men have this problem too only wanting to build up the chest and biceps but their back is so weak due to lack of training the back muscles, they are walking around with the shoulders push forward and a hump in the their back. Even worse is men with large upper bodies, but they have bird legs. NOT COOL! So workout your whole body. It'll thank you later.

The Zumba Nation

Remember when Tae Bo with Billy Blanks was the big fitness craze across the country? People all over the world was in their living room kicking and punching, sweating like somebody poured a bucket of water on them. Well, those that are my age and older probably remember the high intensity of the cardio kickboxing combination workouts. Now that's a thing of the past and the Tae Bo VHS tapes are probably in the garage or in the attic collecting dust. The next big thing is rapidly sweeping across the country, and even other parts of the world. It's called ZUMBA. What is this Zumba some of you may ask? Well, Zumba is a fitness dance program that is heavily influenced by Latin moves and music that allows you to have fun while burning many calories and toning up the body. The fitness program was created by celebrity fitness trainer "Beto" Perez in Colombia (the country in South America, not the city in Tennessee)in the mid 1990's and was brought to the United States in 2001. So as you can see it took a long time for it to catch on in Tennessee. Which I'm not surprised at all. Some people think it originated in Ohio. Not True! They were one of the first states to use the program in the gyms. You can read more about the history on zumba.com or just google it.

Within the past couple of years the Zumba craze has been spreading like a wildfire. As of May 2010 the Zumba program is being taught at over 60,000 locations in 105 countries, has sold millions of DVDs. Typically you see mostly women in zumba classes. Because of movements of the body, I think most men feel uncomfortable joining in. Hey, I feel like if you're comfortable with yourself and it's going to make you healthier than go for it! Who cares what other people think, right?!

Some of you might say, "Zumba is too intense for me."" I might not be able to keep up." No worries! There are many locations that provide classes for all levels of physical activity experience. Here is the listing of classes available from the official Zumba website, www.zumba.com:

Zumba® Basic Steps Level 1 – This Instructor Training teaches instructors the foundation and formula to teach basic Zumba® classes.
Zumba® Basic Steps Level 2 – This Instructor Training teaches instructors four more rhythms to incorporate into their basic Zumba® classes. It also gives instructors the opportunity to network, share choreography and enhance their professional status and skills.
Zumba Gold® – This Instructor Training is designed for instructors who wish to teach the active older adult population or the true beginner (deconditioned participant). It addresses the anatomical, physiological and psychological needs specific to these populations.
Zumba Toning™ – This Instructor Training teaches instructors how to blend body-sculpting techniques and specific Zumba moves into one calorie-burning, strength-training class. Instructors use weighted, maraca-like Zumba Toning Sticks to enhance rhythm and build strength.

The Zumba Academy has cultivated a new league of high-caliber Zumba instructors, many of whom have chosen to further their Zumba careers through the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN™), Zumba Fitness' exclusive career development system comprised of the most elite Zumba instructors from around the world. All newly licensed Zumba instructors are eligible to join ZIN and become ZIN members.
Aqua Zumba™ – This Instructor Training is the "pool party" workout for all ages. Instructors learn how to teach safe, effective and challenging water-based workouts that integrate the Zumba formula and philosophy into traditional aqua fitness disciplines.
Zumbatomic® – This Instructor Training teaches instructors how to fuse the Zumba program's exciting formula with the psychology and physiology relevant to teaching kids (ages 4-12). Instructors learn how to modify Zumba moves to get optimal results, and receive tips on discipline and class management. With the Zumbatomic program, kids have a blast, get focused and get fit.

You can also go to the website and find a local Zumba class in your neck of the woods. So give it a try. If you want to workout but are scared to lift weights or you're tired of doing the same old boring workout routine, then this will definitely be something that will take your workout to the next level. How long will the Zumba craze last? Who knows. But, if you're looking for something new then jump on the bandwagon.

Go to Search For Classes to find a local Zumba class at your gym, recreation center and/or church.

Paying The Price To Be Obese

Now I have been doing quite a bit of research on the cost of healthy living vs. the cost of obesity or inactive lifestyles. I hear many people say they can't afford to go to the gym or buy workout equipment or afford healthy food (I think that's a lame excuse). You will be surprised on how much it cost to be in shape instead of being overweight and out of shape. 1/3 of U.S. population is obese. In Tennessee 37% are overweight and 31% are obese. This is out of 4.7 million adults that live in Tennessee. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) the average obese person spends $1,500 more than the average-weight person on medical expenses. Obese people will also spend $1,400 more in medication than the normal-weight person. The average medical cost per year is $147 billion. Obesity also affects the state's economy. In Tennessee, the medical costs associated with adult obesity were $1.8 billion dollars in 2003. That's a lot of unnecessary spending! Of course most of that spending is going to medical care for Diabetes, Heart Disease, Hypertension (which can lead to strokes), Gout, Civer disease, Cataracts( people with diabetes have a greater risk) and other disabilities from being overweight. 100,000 people die every year from being obese. 100,000! That's something that needs to be changed! Now I'm not saying that overweight people are the only ones that spend a lot on medical care because there are some slim men and women that are just as unhealthy. Just because you are slim or have the "ideal" looking body does not mean you are healthy. If you're not eating right and you're not exercising, then YOU ARE NOT HEALTHY!

Okay lets break down some things real quick. Let's talk about the price of cooking at home vs. buying fast food. I know most people think it's more convenient to stop and get something from McDonalds or KFC instead of cooking lunch for work or cooking dinner at home. It might be convenient for the moment, but later down the road its going to cause so many more health problems if this is something that's apart of the normal daily routine. I know people personally that eat at some type of restaurant 4-5 days out of the week. That's not good! It's not good on the bank account and it's not good for the body. The number one excuse I hear is I don't have time to cook. Oh, you have time! The time it took you to drive in traffic to the restaurant, sit down (if its a dine-in restaurant), order the food, wait for them to cook it and then finally bring it to you, you could have cooked it yourself at home and ate for a lot cheaper. But people are always so "busy". Anyway, let's compare the cost of cooking a HEALTHY meal at home vs. eating at a restaurant. The average size family (parents and 2-3 children) can have a meal at home (meat, 2 vegetables and a drink) for approx. $10-15. Going to a fast food restaurant will cost approx. $15-20. Now take the same amount of family members to a restaurant like Logan's Roadhouse or O'Charleys and I guarantee you will spend over $50. So you do the math see how much it cost annually to eat at a restaurant almost everyday out of the week.

Let's talk about the price of a gym membership and we'll be done with this subject... For now. The average cost of a gym membership in Nashville is about $20-40 per month. That's not including personal trainers or anything like that. In my opinion that is affordable. That's where wants vs needs come in. You want to spend your money on spas, hair, alcohol, tobacco, clubs, clothes, shoes and etc. That's understandable. I mean some of you work hard for the money you make. But you need to be healthy to live a long life. I'm not saying that eating healthy 24/7 and working out will keep you from ever going to the hospital for health related issues or dying at an early age, nor am I saying you have to eat healthy and workout everyday but it definitely reduces the chances by a large percentage. With the economy still a little shaky, I know many people really can't stretch out their money anymore to get a gym membership. That's is also understandable. You can workout at home. Do some push-up and Sit-ups. Go walk or run around the neighborhood or the park for about 30 minutes. Go outside and play with your kids if you have some! Take the stairs at your job instead of the elevator. Just do something active!

Let me drop another stat on you. 38% percent of obese people in Tennessee watch 3 more hours of Television per day. I've heard almost every excuse in the book why some people can't exercise from "I don't have time" to "I don't want to mess up my hair." But that's all they are, excuses. If you give your boss at your job a lot of excuses on why you can't come in to work or why you're always late, you will eventually be replaced. Keep giving excuses why you can't or won't exercise and your "normal" life will be replaced by health problems and frequent doctor visits.

Something I learned recently at STEPS Fitness in Nashville is, "It's not the fat itself that's causing a person to have health problems, it's being inactive that causes the health problems which will ultimately cause the person to be overweight or obese (fat)."