Mary-Ann Moller's Fitness and Nutrition Blog

If you are a "younger" person, working on improving your fitness, you might want to follow my daughter's blog about her

quest to become super fit.

"My plan for this blog is for it to be a way to share my progress with my friends and family and also to motivate and keep myself on track. I will be posting my goals, photos, progress, training sessions, nutrition, motivational quotes and random thoughts!"

Mary-Ann is at home, here in Wellington, training as hard as one ever could, ably partnered by Step-Mom, Alofa.  Mary-Ann has one year to complete at Otago University to become a nutritionist.

She already has written many articles which help the reader make sense of training and nutrition, including how to keep healthy.

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About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Mountain Bike Technology News

Ioasa goes for a mountain bike ride

Join Ioasa for a typical mountain bike ride on a typical Wellington day. Skirting the perimeter hills of Wellington City, the mountain biking capital of the world, Ioasa rides non-stop for three hours of stunning views, clear skies and sunshine, miles of single track, grunty uphills and thrilling downhills. All of this and more overlooking the central city.

Thumbs up for the lymphaciser rebounder

Hi Gary
Just thought you might like a great testimonial for Lympacizers! I've owned one for nearly 20 years and there's been hardly any give in the springs over that time despite being used daily. They are GREAT, well worth the outlay.
Cheers
Jan
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Gary Moller comments:

Thanks for the thumbs-up, Jan. The key to the feel and longevity (and the price!) of these exercise machines is the heavy steel frame, the many big steel springs and the way they are fixed by welded brackets to the frame.

I have used the Pacific Health Lymphacizer rebounders for some 25 years for outfitting commercial gyms. Some of these rebounders have been in use for that entire period, some in gyms that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some of the users are very, very big people! I can not recall ever having to replace a broken spring. All that has been required is to replace the protective frame and spring cover now and then and ensure the legs are tightly screwed in. These machines should out-live their owners if used in the home.



If you are considering purchasing a rebounder, it is worth your while spending more and going for quality. The cheapos that cost $100 or less simply do not last and they feel awful compared to the Lymphacizer. With use the springs of the cheapos quickly dig into the frame, the bed stretches and the responsive bounce goes out of the bed. You do not want to be jumping up and down on a cheap bed that may tear or with cheap springs that eventually snap with use.

Feedback about chronic stitch problems

"I emailed quite a number of weeks ago about chronic "stitch" as a beginner runner. I have followed your advice and have been taking 400mg of Magnesium and a decent multi-vitamin every day. Just thought I'd pop in a follow up email as you encouraged.

Ive managed to find my "running style" finally and although I wouldnt go so far to say I run crouched over, I have found that running in a more controlled manner by tightening my gut muscles and belly breathing has really helped - I find Im restricting the movement of my stomach muscles and keeping my wobbly bits from wobbling ;o)

After completing a Triathlon in early March, I found a few muscles I didnt know I had and was getting the stitch just wondering around the shopping centre and put the cause down to strained muscles. I am working on strengthening my core muscles starting with 50 sit ups a day and working up every week - I can take some motivation from Oprah who does 300 a day ;o)

Im very pleased to report that I managed 7.5km last night - probably doesnt sound like a lot, but considering I could only manage 0.5km around Christmas, Im really happy with my progress. The next step is to get fitted into running shoes after suffering from sore feet after the last few runs. Still aiming for a half marathon in October.

Thank you very much for your help and advice - I am really enjoying your website."



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Gary Moller comments:
I doubt it very much if Oprah is consistent with her 300 situps/day! It may be a case of her doing a Donna Awatere, if you get my drift. 30 situps done properly each day is just fine.

As is usually the case, there is never a single solution to conditions like cramp and this is why single factor solutions, like a quinnine prescription, seldom provide lasting relief.

A good place to start with understanding core exercises is to read these articles.

Sunlight makes athletes stronger, faster and more precise

"If you are vitamin D deficient, the medical literature indicates that the right amount of vitamin D will make you faster, stronger, improve your balance and timing, etc. How much it will improve your athletic ability depends on how deficient you are to begin with. How good an athlete you will be depends on your innate ability, training, and dedication. However, peak athletic performance also depends upon the neuromuscular cells in your body and brain having unfettered access to the steroid hormone, activated vitamin D. In addition, how much activated vitamin D is available to your brain, muscle, and nerves depends on having ideal levels of vitamin D in your blood - about 50 ng/ml, to be precise". Quote from Dr John Cannell.

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Gary Moller comments:
To relate Dr Cannell's recommended levels to the usual NZ blood tests, here is the information you need.We have known for years that vitamin D deficiency in the elderly leads to muscle and bone weakness and poor cognitive performance that results in poor balance and stumbling, dementia and so on. It is therefore little surprise that boosting an athlete's vitamin D levels to optimum will bring about an imtprovement in strength, speed, agility, concentration and stamina. It also stands to reason that such athletes are more resistant to injury by having stronger bones and muscles.

To date, not a single sports person (Or anybody else for that matter) who has consulted me about a chronic health or injury problem has returned a blood test for vitamin D that is anywhere near optimum.

If you are in serious training and if you want to produce your best and most consistent performances then it makes such good sense to boost your vitamin D levels to optimum and then to keep it there year round. Here is one of the most important nutritional supplements and it is completely free!

Have you thought about setting up a home gym?

If you are paying up to $1,000 per year or more for a gym membership that you do not use often enough, have you ever thought about setting up a home gym?

Unless you are a groupie a home gym makes a lot of good sense. The kids, your partner, the Mother-in-law and friends can all benefit from the convenience. That's a lot of potential gym memberships you are saving!

I can now supply just about all the equipment you need for an amazing and compact home gym that you can install in that spare room or in the garage. What I can't supply, I can usually direct you to the best source. Get hold of me if you are considering setting up your own gym.

Go here to see the great range of exercycles, elliptical trainers, spin cycles and rowing machines that I am now selling.

I have an LG4 Firefox spin cycle that I won at the Gentle Annie Mountain Bike Ride last month. I loved the styling and the silent and smooth magnetic braking, so decided to sell them!

Bookmark this adventure for 2008

On January 27th we completed the 80km ride from inland of Taihape through the Central North Island Plateau to inland of Napier. It was through awesome country side up and and down equally awesome gravelly hills.

Organised by Andrew Ninnes and his team of volunteers, this inaugural event goes down in my book as one of the most memorable and enjoyable bike events I have ever done.

It was a relaxed event with most of the participants being novices doing it for the scenery and the challenge just to finish. As per usual, there was the handful of hard out fanatics who had to go as fast as they could (I confess - I was one of them). But I still managed a quick swig of the free brewed coffee on offer at the half way point. The overall winner was the appropriately named Steve Pedley.

I did the whole distance according to heart rate. I had worked out that I could do 80km of mountain biking at about 140-150 beats per minute with the upper limit being 160 beats. So that is how I rode the hills and the flats, only once hitting 160 beats. I was in about 25th place by the halfway point and finished strongly to be 5th overall. Not too bad for a guy in his 50's if you don't mind my saying. I drank approximately 2 liters of water and ate about 4 caramel bars which I gobbled down at the crest of the big hills before picking up to speeds of 60-80 km/hr on the massive winding descents. What a thrill! Despite the huge hills and the heat, I finished without any cramps at all - only a raw arse from all the bone rattling ruts. I put my performance down to improvements in diet over recent years and being much smarter with training and racing.

The race finished at the Waiwhare community centre, a converted rural school. There we lazed in the shade and paddled in the refreshing swimming pool. The locals put on the healthiest spread I have ever had at any sporting event and there was more food than anybody could eat.

The prize pool was impressive and I was astonished to win the spot prize - a $1,400 spinning bike donated by Action Wheels of New Plymouth. In fact, the bike was of such a good quality, I have arranged to sell them on my website (keep an eye for them as I bring them on line).

This was a wonderful event through one of the most remote and scenic areas of the North Island. It was impeccably organised and so relaxing from start to finish. It was almost an embarrassment to appear to be riding hard out in such picturesque surroundings.

We will be there next year - and we will be looking out for you!

Please help - I want to run a marathon!

"Dear Gary,
I am a 27 year old male who is currently living in XXX. I am desperate to run a marathon and have never done any excessive long distance running before. I find it hard to motivate myself to run, even though I am a keen sportsman. Last year I trained for a half marathon in XXX, however I got shin splints and could not attend. I was running around 12km a day when this happened. I am in a state of unrest as my fitness is poor and I am putting on weight. I eat rather healthy but tend to drink with mates on the weekend.

I was wondering if you could give me some motivational goals and techniques to encourage me to achieve my ultimate goal of a marathon. Would the Rotorua Marathon be out of the question and would I need to set a target for a future date?"
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Gary Moller responds:
First of all, it is far too late to prepare for this year's Rotorua Marathon but not too late to start focusing on 2008. Make that your long term goal.

I find that the best way to get really fit and hardened for running an event like a marathon is to commit to a whole variety of lesser events that are no more than about a month or two away. Right now New Zealand is awash with mountain runs, 5 and 10km fun and charity runs and even events like the Oxfam 24 hour 100km wlk/run. There are also duathlons that anybody can do and these are often held in exotic places. For example, I am doing the 10 km run section of the Mt Holdsworth mountain duathlon this weekend while a mate does the cycle sections.

Events that grab my imagination are now getting promoted on this website and in various e-pubs, so keep an eye out for these. You can also find events by going to the various sports websites that are listed to the left of this article.

Frequently entering these events keeps you focused and motivates like nothing nothing else. They are not so punishing as to leave you injured and otherwise overly wasted.

You do not need to train hard daily. I would never run 10km every day nowadays because the fatigue and injury risk are excessive. It is much better to do three longer, steady runs per week with relative rest in between and to do an extra session preferably in the form of a shortish race that does not completely waste you. Please read this training guide which has just been substantially updated.

Shin splints hint that you have been doing too much running too soon and probably without sufficient in the way of recovery days. You probably have pronating feet. Please read this e-pub and do the exercises diligently.

If you start doing this right now you will find that your fitness steadily improves and you will be excited and motivated by each event as it looms on the horizon

Perhaps you can interest your drinking buddies in entering a few adventure races!

Here's a mountain duathlon worth doing

If you are training up for an event like a marathon or just wanting to get really fit, a good strategy is to do a variety of challenging events that:

• Makes training varied and interesting,
• Gives you a really good incentive to get out and do the training,
• Makes life an exciting challenge,
• Gets you into the great outdoors and:
• If you get injured or fall ill the day before the big event of the season, all is not lost - you had a damn good time getting there!

Wairarapa Multisports Club in conjunction with the Masterton Tramping Club presents the 20th Annual Wairarapa Mountain Duathlon Sunday 4th March, 2007 10.00am Start from Clareville Showgrounds.



The race consists of a bike to the base of the mountain and then a steady 10km out and back run and then cycle to the finish. There is a short course option. Although I am pretty good on a bike, I am teaming up with a mate who is doing the cycling and I will concentrate on the run. Great fun, great training and great country-side!

Can you be fat and healthy at the same time?

Hi Gary,
I’ve been looking for a web site regarding health/nutrition and stumbled over yours... plenty of info but wanted to ask a specific question and you certainly look like you know your stuff. So here goes...
With all these fat loss shows on television I thought I would find out my BMI was and correct weight for my height and age etc. I am 93kg, 173cm & 29 years of age. My BMI is 31, and to my surprise that tips me into the obese category. You can imagine my surprise... I am of European Maori descent and have always had extra pounds on me but never really anything extreme. I find it hard to get under the 90kg mark and very rarely have I been over the 95kg mark (since my mid 20's). I have exercised regularly for the past few years and over the last 12 months I have done two fitness boot camps over several months and that aside I am road running up to four times per week for 30 - 45min and a pump class on the weekend. I eat fresh food and minimal fats, although a like a few beers on Friday night after work and probably a bottle of wine a week over some Thai food.
Question being... Can someone be obese and healthy/fit at the same time? I feel im fitter then I have ever been but am labelled fat. What are your thoughts?
Thanks a bunch!
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Gary Moller comments:
One of the problems of one size fits all prescriptive health advice is it fails to cater for those who fall to the upper or lower ends of the population distribution curve. This is the failing of BMI measures. If you are a heavily boned and heavily muscled person, probably due to your Maori genes, then you are immediately in trouble with BMI which does not differentiate between muscularity and fat.

My best mate at university was a national class gymnast and springboard diver. He is part Maori and weighed in a collossal 14-15 stone (Very heavy for a gymnast). Going by BMI, he was grossly obese. But he was pure muscle and could lie on the bottom of the pool with a lung full of air and he could carry a fridge on his back no trouble.

The problem with this kind of body type is the tendency to go quickly to fat if the exercise is neglected and the eating not moderated. In your case, you are doing plenty of exercise - more than enough to remain fit and healthy and your diet seems fine.

Is fat unhealthy? Well the answer is "No!" In the case of the solidly built individual it is quite natural to have a healthy layer of fat. If you want to see a really unhealthy person, take a look at the zero fat body builder. A naturally heavily boned and muscled person should have some visible fat when healthy. To try to force fat levels below what your body is naturally telling you what it should be is distinctly unhealthy. In this case, forcing the body under 90kg or so would appear to be unnatural and therefore unhealthy. 95kg is fine, but this could be increased to 100kg if a weights programme was included in the weekly fitness regime.

As a related aside: Isn't it interesting that a person with high cholesterol often feels very healthy when first diagnosed. What is most interesting is how unhealthy the person then feels once going on a low fat diet and taking statin drugs. Fats, including cholesterol, are essential for good health; it is just a case of how much, in what form and what else comes with them.

One of the things a big guy has to take extra care of is his knees, hips and his heart even if all are currently in perfect working order. In addition to a healthy wholefoods diet, I recommend taking a mineral supplement that has magnesium in it (Due in part to loss through heavy sweating), a fish oil supplement and glucosamine and chondroitin. These are available from www.myotec.co.nz and we do deliver to Australia.

Here's a couple of running events to challenge you!

If you have been following my advice about training for events like the Rotorua Marathon or the Karapoti Classic, you will know that I encourage you to enter various buildup events that keep you focussed on training and also to help develop that high-end performance that can only come through competition. Whether you are out to win, or just to finish, you will benefit enormously by entering other events that challenge mind and stamina during your preparations.

What better to enter than events that get you into really spectacular parts of New Zealand!

Well here are two events that are just ideal for the fitness fanatic and the timing could not be better: the Mt Lowry and Mt Lyford mountain runs. Go here right now to learn more, otherwise read on....

Mt Lowry overlooks Eastbourne and is 12.5km of scenic hills that will have you blowing. Mind you, you don't have to race these events: Plenty of people enter just to participate, walking the distance and soaking up the views and the atmosphere. The Mt Lowrie event is on 25th February, giving you just enough time to prepare. Here is the link to the Mt Lowry page

The Mt Lyford race, overlooking the Kaikouras, is a scenic and stamina blowout for sure. The main event is 17.5km with a 1282m climb; but there is the option of a 5km version and even one for th kids. That's on 11th March which means you have plenty of time to train up for it. Here is the link to the Mt Lyford race

I have just entered the Mt Lowry race and so has my partner, Alofa; although she does not know this yet. Hmmm - just a couple of weeks to get running fit - now that is a challenge!

Recipe for producing a champion performance: Just add Baking Soda

Baking Soda May Help Exercisers
Sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda, is used as a medication to neutralize stomach acid in ulcer patients and as a home remedy for stomach distress. Now researchers in Greece have shown that it may neutralize the acid in muscles during intense exercise and helps athletes to exercise longer (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, October 2006).
If you run or cycle as hard as you can, you start to breathe hard, and suddenly your leg muscles start to burn because your muscles have become acidic. Its the burning in your muscles that forces you to slow down. Muscles get the energy to move your body from the food that you eat.
Carbohydrates are broken down step by step in a chain of reactions to release energy for your muscles. Each step requires oxygen. If you have enough oxygen, the carbohydrates are eventually broken down to carbon dioxide and water that you can blow off from your lungs. However, if you cant get all the oxygen that you need, the series of reactions stops and lactic acid accumulates in your muscles and spills over into your bloodstream. The acidity in muscles caused by the accumulation of lactic acid is what makes your muscles burn.
When acid is exposed to an alkaline or base, it combines with it to neutralize the acid and form water. What would happen when an athlete takes the base, sodium bicarbonate, before he competes? He would be able to exercise longer if the bicarbonate got into the muscle and neutralized the burning caused by the acid. The authors of this study showed that higher doses of sodium bicarbonate were more effective in preventing burning.
This exercise aid is still experimental, so we will have to wait for further research to see if it really works. Source: Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine January 21, 2007
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Gary Moller comments:

This is not new. Athletes have been playing around with baking soda since 1980 and probably much earlier. Experienced athletes gave it the short shove very quickly because its benefits are minimal for the properly prepared athlete and the stomach upsets from the bicarbonate neutralised any theoretical benefit. Quite simply; when you are competing at extreme intensity, like running 1500m track the last thing you want to be taking is anything that upsets the stomach and intestines. Researchers are hoping this old trick will gain some new legs. No doubt it will eventually end up as an expensive wonder additive in sports drinks.

As far as recipes go for producing champions there are no short cuts short of doing a Landis or a Schwartzeneggar. Even if baking soda works one must question its use just as one should question the use of large doses of caffeine. With regards to the burning feeling in the muscles that Dr Mirkin describes the solution is as follows:

• Eight to ten years of endurance training including a weekly 2hr + run or 3hr + cycle on nothing but water. This trains the ability to use fat and encourages prolific capiliarisation of the muscle.
• Ensuring an alkaline wholefoods diet that is high in antioxidants, the B vitamins and minerals including magnesium and calcium. There is a good case for supplemetning with these to boost natural intake.
• Periodically developing one's anerobic capacity to its maximum prior to seasonal peaks in competition.

Fifty years ago, athletics coach Arthur Lydiard, got the recipe right. The performances of his athletes would still be competitive today, if one were to factor in improvements in track and shoe technologies and the widespread use of rabbits nowadays. Oh, yes - and rampant cheating (you could include the rabbits here)! With a few minor modern adjustments and the application of modern nutritional stategies and the old recipe is as robust as ever.

Product Review: iRule Motus Adventure Racing Shorts

When Daryl of iRule fame offered me a pair of his company's new adventure racing shorts to review, I jumped at the opportunity to replace my tatty old cycling shorts.

Photo One: Alofa doing her typical arse-rattling daily Mtb commute to work in Wellington City.

They duly arrived and I eagerly unpacked them. "They look very nice, can I borrow them?" asked my partner, Alofa, who was about to head off to work. Of course she could borrow them. Well, that was a big mistake: I was supposed to be test running these flash new shorts; but opening the courier pack has been the closest I have got to wearing them. A couple of months have passed and she won't give them up!

Photo Two: Alofa looking out over Cook Strait, Wellington before attempting the infamous death-drop to the coastline below.

I am not one to argue with her about this matter of ownership. Besides; she looks great in them (And I reckon she knows it). She commutes to work daily on her mountain bike. The Motus shorts have small pockets that are handy for carrying library and security cards, so she does not have to fiddle with a back pack to get her ID.

Another quality of the shorts worth mentioning is the way high quality shock absorbing, super hygienic butt chamois is fashioned and shaped. You don't look and feel like you are wearing bulky nappies when you are off your bike. Alofa assures me they are very good to run in as well. I'll take her word on that.

Photo three: Alofa viewing the memorial to all those cyclist who went before her and never returned. (Note my smart Motus shorts)

At $NZ 129 the price is about right for a high quality pair of shorts that also look damn good. For the technical, pricing and purchasing details here is the direct link.

Here's an event to challenge you!

The Gentle Annie is one of those roads that you have to do at least once in your lifetime and what better than to do it on your mountain bike?

It is only a few weeks away and entering now is the best way to force feed your New Year's fitness programme. Its not technical - just about anybody can do it. There's just a few hills and a lot of gravel between the start and the finish - that's all.

I have just entered my partner, Alofa - but she doesn't know this yet! I hope she does not mind. See you at the start.

New Page added: Training advice for running, including walking or running a half marathon or marathon

If you are planning to run or walk a marathon or half marathon; or just wanting to get outside and get fit, this new page on my website is a good place to start. What I have done is create a feeder that searches out all of the artilces that I have written that have anything to do about running and aggregated them all onto a single page.

Commute your way to fitness

If you want to get really fit and time is against you, commuting to work under your own steam is the solution.

My partner, Alofa, is very fit. By commuting to and from work, she has reduced her resting pulse from 80 beats per minute to 40 beats per minute. That’s an extra 40 beats to play with when running, meaning she can run with ease a lot faster and longer. She either rides her mountain bike to and from work or she runs with a small back pack. At the beginning of each week, she takes her clothing and her breakfast (muesli) to work where her employer has supplied a wardrobe and shower. This is good time management.

She gets to work early, faster than driving or taking the bus, has a quick shower and breakfast and then she is down to work. No need to waste time with makeup due to the healthy start to the day!

If you live too far to commute and you think you can get out of it, think again; use public transport to travel only part of the distance, then run the remainder of the journey. Extend the distance run as fitness improves. There should be no whimping out when the weather is foul. There is no such thing as bad weather – just bad choices of clothing.

Commuting disciplines you into a twice daily workout that quickly builds enduring fitness. It makes very good use of time that is otherwise wasted on mindless and stressful commuting. It can save you thousands of dollars per year and is good for the environment. When building fitness by commuting, all you need do further in training is a long run on Sundays with the occasional race thrown in here and there.

Biking to work too dangerous - cycling advocate

Cycling campaigners say fewer people are cycling to work because the practice is becoming more dangerous and difficult.

Figures from the 2006 Census show 38,000 people routinely bike to work, down from 41,000 five years ago and 51,000 10 years ago.
The Cycling Advocates Network says people are afraid to cycle because there are too many cars on the road, travelling too fast.
It says a large increase in funding for projects to encourage cycling is needed.
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Gary Moller comments:

What a child learns when young, he or she will be very likely to continue as an adult; even if there has been a long break. On the other hand; if a child does not participate in an activity and learn the basic skills, then he or she is unlikely to take up that, or similar activities later on.
Girls are by far the least likely to take up an outdoors activity later on - lack of basic skills, soft bodies, gender bias and stereotyping, fear of sunlight, fear of bugs and fear of strangers lurking the bushes see to that.
My little boy is the only child in the Central Wellington City suburb of Brooklyn to ride a bicycle to school which I feel very sad about.
This is the trend that is happening now and it is showing in activities like cycling. The majority of young adults have had little or no practice riding a bike. Riding on roads nowadays requires a high level of skill from Day One on the road and few youngsters are learning these. It is therefore no surprise that total numbers of cyclists is on the decline.

Take care - this event can be addictive!

To all my overseas readers: New Zealand is a safe place to have a break from all the madness of modern life, industrial pollution, corrupt politicians and the bleak Northern winter. Why not plan an adventure holiday that is in true FreeRanger style? Bring your bike and your hiking shoes, do a few events like the McDonald Downs ride and generally have an actively relaxing time.

Training for a Mountain Bike Race

Start 'em young: Alama Moller (centre) lining up for the NZ Championships

If you have not read this yet, here is the link to my latest E-Publication.