Losing your temper can be fatal says the Daily Mail. Doctors in the US have discovered that feelings of rage can triger potentially lethal irregular heart rhythms. This also ties in with other scientific findings that stress caused by major events, from the loss of a world cup to war, can also cause a rise in rates of heart attack. “when you put a whole nation under sudden stress, sudden death will increase said the research from Yale University. In the study 62 adults were fitted with defibrillators to monitor irregularities in heart rates. They were then subjected to high levels of mental stress. The tests showed a clear link between the stress and irregular heart beats. Furthermore those who got the most angry were 10 times more likely to sufer cardiac arrest in the 3 years after the test.

Again the study comes as no news to the personal trainers at Diets Don’t Work. We see the indirect and direct results of stress very day in our clients. More often than not the more successful they are the more they tend to have problems with sleep, body image, stress and eating. The good news is that the structured exercise provided by personal training coupled with healthy eating tips and all round encouragement really helped battle these stresses.    

Are statins the new wonder drug? Does it mean that you can get away with no exercise, and bin your personal trainer? Statins are already given to millions of people worldwide to lower their cholesterol levels. Now, it seems, they can also halve the risk of heart attack in patients who are seemingly healthy.In a wide ranging study, the “Juipter” trial, , researchers tested the effects of rosuvastatin (Crestor) on almost 18, 000 patients from 26 countries, all of whom had low cholesterol levels but raised levels of an inflammation protein. The scientists expected there to be a moderate improvement in their prospects, but were amazed when it became clear that the statins were reducing the risk of heat attacks by 54% and strokes by 48%. In fact the benefits were so marked hat the trial was stopped early in March. The researchers believe hat the findings could lead to statins being prescribed more widely. However it must be noted that the participants were already at a small risk of heart attack and stroke; the statins simply made a small risk smaller.

This does not mean that we should eschew exercise knowing that there is a pill that will make us less likely to keel over. The benefits of exercise and good nutrition go well beyond preventing these two main killers, and also include hugely improved mental and physical well-being. So don’t cop out, remember that if all else fails and you can’t manage to get going then we can help with a personal trainer in London. 

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the biggest killer in the UK, so take care of your heart. TV and the media lead us to believe that having a heart attack is deadly but medical advances mean that having heart disease is no longer a death sentence and there are lots of things that you can do to reduce your risk. In CHD, the arteries that supply the heart with oxygen and nutrients become narrowed by atherosclerosis. This restricts the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart, particularly during exertion when there are more demands on the heart muscle.

The main symptom is angina, caused by insufficient oxygen reaching the heart muscle because of reduced blood flow. Angina is a feeling of heaviness, tightness or pain in the middle of your chest that may extend to, or just affect, your arms (especially the left), neck, jaw, face, back or abdomen. It’s most often experienced during exertion – if you run for a bus, for example, or climb stairs. It may occur in cold weather, after a heavy meal, or when you’re feeling stressed. It can subside once you stop what you’re doing and rest, or take medication.

Unfortunately, for many people the first indication that something’s wrong is a heart attack. This happens when the blood supply to a part of the heart muscle is completely interrupted or stops, usually when a blood clot forms in a diseased coronary artery that’s already become narrowed by atherosclerosis. The pain of a heart attack is often severe, and is frequently described as a central, crushing type of pain – like a tight band around the chest. Unlike angina, the pain doesn’t subside when you rest. Sometimes it can be mild, and is mistaken for indigestion. Some people have a heart attack without experiencing pain. Other heart attack symptoms include sweating, light-headedness, nausea or breathlessness which, again, aren’t alleviated by rest. If you suspect you, or someone else, is having a heart attack, seek medical help immediately by calling 999. Modern treatments can restore the blood supply to the heart muscle. The sooner treatment is given, the less permanent damage there will be.

The most common cause of a heart attack is atherosclerosis. This is a build up of fatty materials within the walls of the arteries throughout the body, most importantly in the arteries to the tissues of the heart – the coronary arteries. During this process, the inner lining of the arteries becomes furred with a thick, porridge-like sludge (atheroma), consisting of fatty deposits of cholesterol, cell waste and other substances. These form raised patches on the artery wall – known as ‘plaques’ – that narrow the arteries, reducing the space through which blood can flow. At the same time, the blood becomes more prone to clotting. A heart attack occurs when one of the coronary arteries blocks completely. When the supply of oxygen and nutrients is completely blocked, the heart muscle and tissue supplied by that artery dies.

Reducing risk

Becoming more active and improving your diet can make a tremendous difference to your heart. Taking more exercise helps reduce blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels and boosts metabolism – all of which can reduce your risk of coronary heart disease. Being active is absolutely essential for a healthy heart – for the simple reason that your heart is a muscle. Even if you haven’t been active for some time, your heart can become stronger, so that it is able to pump more efficiently giving you more stamina and greater energy.

Becoming more active will also improve the ability of your body’s tissues to extract oxygen from your blood, help you maintain healthy levels of blood fats and speed your metabolism.

Three types of exercise are needed in order to become fitter and healthier. These are aerobic, resistance training and flexibility. All three are vital for all-round fitness. Particularly important to prevent coronary heart disease is aerobic or cardiovascular exercise. This is any kind of activity that increases your breathing rate and gets you breathing more deeply.  With one of our personal trainers these activities include: walking, running, step aerobics, boxercise,shuttle runs, body pump and circuit training. These are designed to increase the strength of your heart muscle by improving your body’s ability to extract oxygen from the blood and transport it to the rest of the body. Aerobic exercise also enhances your body’s ability to use oxygen efficiently and to burn (or metabolise) fats and carbohydrates for energy. So you will also get thinner!!

Strength exercise (or resistance training) helps to make your muscles stronger, strengthens your bones and protects your joints from the risk of injury (because muscles protect the joints). This type of exercise may involve the use of free weights and body weight exercises. With home personal training we are not tied in to restrictive gym machines and so can focus on functional resistance training with core muscle activation.    Exercises such as press-ups, lunges and squats, and some of the exercises involved in yoga which use your body weight, are all good for resistance. Resistance training does not increase heart strength on it’s own, but as part of a circuit or body pump style workout it can increase the fitness of your heart like aerobic exercise-this is called Peripheral Heart Action training (PHA). It also helps regulate appetite, strengthens the immune system and increases your metabolic rate, vital if you want to lose weight and eat reasonably well.

 Stretching helps relax and lengthen your muscles, encourages improved blood flow, and helps keep you supple so you can move more easily. Experts say it’s good to stretch for 5-10 minutes every day. There are a number of simple stretches which you’ll find in virtually any book about exercise or can be taught by your personal trainer.