Rotator Cuff Exercises Part 1

Many people know how to effectively exercise the major muscles: legs, chest, back, shoulders, arms, and abs. What most people often neglect is strengthening the rotator cuff muscles. Exercising your rotator cuff muscles will improve overall strength and performance while minimizing the risk for injury.

There are 4 muscles included in the rotator cuff: supraspinatus, infraspinaturs, teres minor, and subscapularis. The supraspinatus is responsible for approximately the first 2o to 30 degrees of shoulder abduction. Unfortunately, using dumbbells is not as effective as cables when it comes to lateral raise (shoulder abduction) because their is very little resistance during the initial movement. Therefore, it is important for you and your clients to use cables at least once a week when it comes to lateral raise.

Next time, we'll review the most effective way to work the other 3 rotator cuff muscles.

Alcohol and Weight Loss

Happy New Year! And with the new year comes many weight loss resolutions. As personal trainers, we get lots of questions about alcohol and weight loss. Alcohol, like junk food, is considered empty calories. Although technically, it's calories provide energy, alcohol is void of any nutrient value. Alcohol is categorized as a carbohydrate but provides 7 calories per gram instead of the 4 calories per gram of other carbohydrates.

Moreover, alcohol is processed differently than other carbohydrates. Most of the alcohol is processed by the liver like fat. Once the liver converts its by-products into fatty acids, the fatty acids will either be stored in the liver as fat or transported into the blood. Excessive fat stored in the liver leads to a fatty liver and eventually cirrhosis of the liver.

Furthermore, 1 serving of alcohol contains 100 to 150 calories. Therefore, when dieting for weight loss, one should treat alcohol like food and count the calories toward the daily caloric intake. One serving of alcohol is one 12 oz beer or one 4 oz glass of wine or 1.5 oz of liquor.

Source: Melvin H. Williams. Nutrition for Health, Fitness, and Sport.

Diabetes Will Continue to Rise in Texas

Today, 2.2 million Texans have been diagnosed with Diabetes according to the Texas Health Institute. However, a recent report predicts that the number will reach 8 million by the year 2040 if things don't change for the better. The main reason for the high diabetes rate is "obesity." As the obesity rate continues to rise so will diabetes. In fact, the report predicts that Texans will start developing diabetes at earlier ages.

The report concluded with possible solutions and hope for the future. One of the solutions is to increase physical activity along with physical education in middle schools and high schools. The sooner we get involved with preventative measures, the sooner we can help decrease the number of Texans being diagnosed with diabetes.

At PFTA, we are still hoping to makes positive changes in the world with respect to health and fitness. The staff at PFTA continues to educate and train adults and children alike. The question remains, "will you be part of the solution...or part of the problem?"