Melissa Wilkerson Personal Fitness, MS, NASM CPT, CES

12/26/2020

Happy Holidays everyone.🎄

I hope you all had a happy, healthy holiday. I’m going to be stepping away from maintaining this page. I’m not actively training others anymore and have enough on my plate with the whole family at home these days. I’m always here for questions or if you need exercise ideas.

Stay away from the fads and trends. The fundamentals of fitness have never really changed.

Please remember consistency is key, but so is change. We need to stay active, we also need to switch up our activities so our bodies don’t adapt. We need a constant challenge. That’s not always harder, but it does mean exercise needs to be different.

(Photo of a Covid safe outdoor activity that can be a great workout too. 🥰⛸)

12/15/2020

“This association suggested that tumor fat metabolism plays a role in human disease, and that obesity reduces antitumor immunity in multiple cancer types, the authors said.”
I have a lot of questions. If you changed to a low fat diet, would the cancer cells switch back to non-fat fuels? If you unknowingly had cancer and went on the keto diet could that trigger tumor growth?
This is a very interesting find. Like all scientific discoveries, it will take even longer to put this information into a useful context.

A new study in mice finds that a high-fat diet allows cancer cells to outcompete immune cells for fuel, impairing immune function and accelerating tumor growth. Cancer cells do so by rewiring their metabolisms to increase fat consumption. Blocking this rewiring enhances anti-tumor immunity. The find...

12/13/2020

For the runners:
This was a post from 7 years ago. I shared info from one of my graduate classes. At the time the whole barefoot/minimalist running scene was popular. I never liked it, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to learn about it. It’s still interesting and worth sharing.

“Fitness Info: one of my classmates did an annotated bibliography (review of current research) on minimalist/barefoot running vs. shoes. I know this is a topic of debate and something I was interested in so I critiqued her paper. I thought I'd share her findings with my runner or want to be runner friends.
In a nutshell, she found that running barefoot or in minimalist shoes shifted "strain" from one's knees to one's ankles. This could be good or bad depending on where/if you have issues. Barefoot running did not affect speed and evidence supported wearing shoes for longer distances. Shod runners demonstrated more dorsiflexion (lifting of toes toward shin) which implies to me they landed on their hind foot more often. The single greatest factor contributing to injury in running is where you land. Forefoot is always recommended. Many runners who have good form and land on their forefoot can do so barefoot or in shoes. So focus on form and footfall, stretching and strengthening and you can avoid injuries.”

12/10/2020

I have a bad feeling gyms are going to shut down again. Too many people don’t wear masks in them as it is. Winter is coming. I have to do something. So I bought one of these bad boys. The Precor AMT is a cross between an elliptical and stair master. I love this thing.

12/03/2020

How do you feel about taxing unhealthy food products in order to decrease intake among Americans and prevent obesity related diseases?

A penny-per-ounce national is cost-effective for cancer prevention in the US, with the largest health gains and economic benefits among lower-income Americans. New from Friedman researchers, et al. https://bit.ly/3k3mv4O

11/19/2020

If only all gyms had the ability to open doors.

A Virginia gym owner thought she had a nightmare scenario on her hands when she learned that 50 athletes were potentially exposed to Covid-19 particles by one of the gym's coaches. But not a single member ended up contracting the virus, thanks to the extra safety precautions and ventilation measures...

11/14/2020

Time-restricted eating, which restricts eating to specific hours of the day, did not impact weight among overweight adults with prediabetes or diabetes. Adults in the 12-week study ate the same healthy, pre-prepared foods, however, one group ate the bulk of their calories before 1 p.m. each day, ver...

11/12/2020

Interested in learning about nutrition from experts for free? Tufts University is offering a few free micro courses on supplements, the psychology of eating behaviors, and sustainable diets.

Please visit go.tufts.edu/coronavirus for the latest from Tufts University. Read more about Spring 2021 at the School. Read more about the new Ellie Block and Family Career Services Center that's currently ramping up and holding events!

10/29/2020

I shared this several years ago but as I reach my mid-40s, it’s even more relevant to me.

This is an excerpt from a blog interview done with Dr. Elaine Cress, a professor with the Dept of Kinesiology and Institute of Gerontology. If you don't want to listen to me about weight training, listen to her:
(BTW, this process starts at about 30 years old)

Can you tell me a little bit about the importance of strength training for older adults?

“We lose muscle mass as a part of the aging process, and that’s exacerbated by the fact that most of us become more and more sedentary, have skeletal problems or other diseases. And if we are physically active, it is not necessarily working systematically all the muscles.”

When you say we lose muscle mass what does that actually mean? Does that mean your muscles are shrinking or that they become weaker?

“We actually lose muscle, the mass, so our weight that is attributable to muscle goes down. So For people who’s weight is staying the same, they are losing muscle. So if their weight is staying the same what they are weighing is fat.
“Its not like muscle converts to fat, I wouldn’t want to say that. But as you age even if your weight is staying the same you have less muscle mass.
“When we have less muscle mass we have less strength. And people as they get older they have more and more trouble doing things that we do in everyday life like climbing stairs, carrying groceries, and carrying grandchildren. Without a systematic effort to work all the muscles on a regular basis and progressively overloading the muscles, then what we do in every day life becomes closer and closer to what is our top possible thing to do.”

Would it be correct to say that your capacity is shrinking?

“Yes your capacity is shrinking but what you do in every day life stays the same, but as those get closer and closer together your physical reserve dwindles and then what your having to do on a day to day basis gets more and more hard, So everyday life becomes harder. “So by doing strength training what you have to do everyday becomes easier you have to do is set aside some time to do something that is hard.

10/29/2020

Disordered eating in our daughters.

There was a recent comment on a trainer’s page from high school athletic director. She was concerned with the number of girls coming to her with concern about a friend’s disordered eating.

I know there are so many reasons why young girls (and some boys) may experience disordered eating. Many of them are internal. I can’t help but feel that one problem is society doesn’t offer enough healthy positive role models, particularly for girls.

Last year, one of my daughters had a friend over our house. They were watching aerial gymnasts perform on tv. The little girl commented that she thought the female performer was fat. I pointed out that although the gymnast wasn’t skinny, she was incredibly strong. Skinny isn’t strong. If she wasn’t healthy and strong she wouldn’t be able to perform. I wondered how many little girls are taught that a physically strong woman is fat or does not exhibit the ideal feminine shape. What do you or your partner believe is the ideal of femininity?

Women who exhibit extraordinary strengths, be it mental, physical, or emotional, are who should be our daughters’ role models, NOT talentless social media influencers or celebrities.

Recently, I made a comment about having gained a few pounds over the last year. My youngest came running to hug me. She said, “Mommy you’re not fat! You’re perfect just the way you are! Don’t say things like that!” I sat her down and explained that just because I can admit I gained weight does NOT mean I lost respect for myself or confidence in who I am. It’s simply an observation. I also explained that I’m not worried about my weight, but my health, my strength, and endurance. Extra weight does affect those things. I’m very careful in how I talk about myself and my body in front of my daughters. I know I am one of the greatest influences, if not the greatest influence in their lives. I have to set a healthy example.

I’m asking all the women out there to please be aware of the example you set and the role models your daughters are choosing. Who is YOUR role model? Is it someone who truly sets a healthy positive example?

I really hope we can do better for our daughters.

10/28/2020

No swollen knees!
After yesterday’s leg workout and today’s stepmill session, I thought for sure they’d be swollen. They don’t hurt at all!

Could it be the collagen supplement? Possibly. I haven’t really done anything else differently.

Today’s workout was a simple 45 minutes on the stepmill (not a stair master but the machine with stairs that actually rotate). It’s getting easier again. I know as long as I’m consistent, it will get better.