A metabolic age number younger than your chronological age generally means that you are fitter and in better health than the average, the lower the age the better in shape you are. An older metabolic age points towards being less healthy and fit than your peers and if it’s much older than your chronological age, this should be considered a wake-up call.

Metabolic Age versus Chronological Age

Example of a body composition analisys print out

What is metabolic age and how does it differ from chronological age? While the chronological age is your age in calendar years, the  metabolic age is a number that comes from comparing your Basal Metabolic Rate with the Basal Metabolic Rate average of your chronological age group.

Depending on how you compare you are assigned a metabolic age number that can be lower or higher than your chronological age. A metabolic age number younger than your chronological age generally means that you are fitter and in better health than the average, the lower the age the better in shape you are. An older metabolic age points towards being less healthy and fit than your peers and if it’s much older than your chronological age, this should be considered a wake-up call.

Calculating Your Metabolic Age

At BodySmart, we calculate your Metabolic Age using our highly-advanced Body Composition Machine. Not only does it calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), it also takes other important measurements such as your Fat%, Total Body Water % and your Bone Mass levels. You get a receipt-sized print-out of these results, together with recommendations as to what measurements to improve.

The body composition analisys takes just a couple of minutes and it’s free of charge for all our members.

She started with us about 5 months ago. She told me about problems she had with lymph drainage in her legs, frozen limbs getting into bed at night, and restless legs throughout the night which she would have to sort out by getting out of bed and walking around.

She did not hesitate to tell me that BodySmart has changed her life. Her leg problems are completely cleared up, and her body is warm all over, all day long.

Everyday I am thankful when I hear stories about helping others, because it makes the last three years of struggle getting this business off the ground seem very worthwhile!

The research study conducted at the Medical College of Georgia found that daily doses of vibration helps to improve density of the hip joint with a shift toward higher density in the femur, the long bone of the leg, as well. Hip fractures are a major cause of disability and death among the elderly.

The scientists theorize that the rhythmic movement of vibration exercises cells so they work better. Vibration prompts movement of the cell nucleus, which is suspended by numerous threadlike fibers called filaments. All the movement releases transcription factors that spur new osteoblasts, the cells that make bone. AND in the case of an injury, vibration acts on stem cells, the master controllers of the healing process.

Its very exciting for me and my trainers to be working with technology which is the subject of constant worldwide research and findings which continually point to improving the overall health of our members.

If you want to read a summary of the research, visit Science Daily

Wow !!

Gordon has a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology. He represented Northern Ireland at Rugby, Swimming and Athletics. Gordon presented his thesis to the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences and then set off to France and China for a few years to add a few more interesting experiences to his career prior to making the decision to join BodySmart in Cork.

We think he has the perfect set of skills to manage our team of fitness instructors as we open our first studio in the south of Ireland. Welcome to the BodySmart team Gordon!

Stay tuned for the opening of the Douglas studio mid-September 2010.

Stay tuned for updated information on our GRAND OPENING !

“We are relocating the premises from Spanish Parade to Barna due to customer demand in the Barna and Salthill areas”, says Morgan Pierce, owner of BodySmart.  “Our studio in Galway City Centre was only capable of holding 2 machines, so there was no room for growth.  The new studio has 6 machines and capacity for up to 12 machines, so there is plenty of room for growth. A total of 4 jobs have been created in the relocation process.”

Combining personal training with advanced technology, the studio offers an exclusively Power Plate environment, with classes each half hour taught by highly educated trainers.  Power Plate exercise has a large, devoted celebrity following which includes Danni Minogue, Courteney Cox and Elle McPherson.

The studio is in the ground floor retail units of The 12 Hotel in Barna.  Opening hours are 9am to 8pm Monday-Thursday, 9-7 Friday and 10-1 on Saturday.  For more information, phone BodySmart at 091 596 100

Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health.  It can help control your weight, reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, strengthen your muscles and bones and improve your mental health and mood.  The GP Exercise Referral Scheme provides a pathway of physical activity to assist in the prevention and management of chronic disease (inclusion criteria apply).

At Bodysmart each referred client is led by a qualified Local Co-ordinator who has completed the HSE National Training course.

If you are interested in becoming a referring GP please complete the ‘expression of interest’ form on the website below. 

For more info & FAQ’s see http://exercise-referral.ie/

Loss of skeletal muscle tissue is one of the biggest ongoing health problems affecting each and every adult on the planet. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people, even those who exercise, are even aware of this devastating problem. If you’ve ever wondered why you eating the way you always have, yet are gaining more and more weight every year, keep listening. I will reveal the very source of this problem, together with the solution.

From the age of approximately thirty onwards, both males and females lose muscle tissue and strength.  Muscle is metabolically active, meaning that simply having it burns calories. The less muscle you have, the fewer calories you burn. 

So if you’re losing more and more muscle each and every year, and eating the same way you always have, you will gain body fat. This is because you no longer possess the fat-burning muscle you used to have. So instead of being burned off, your body stores the excess calories as surplus body fat. 

For women, this means more body fat around the lower tummy, bottom, hips, legs, upper back and the backs of the arms. For males, this excess body fat will be stored around the stomach, chest and lower back (the infamous love handles!). The largest portion of our metabolism is represented by skeletal muscle tissue. To speed up your metabolism and burn fat therefore, you must gain new muscles or at least regain the muscle you used to have when your metabolic rate was at its highest. For most of us, this will be when you were in your late teens or early twenties.

Now lets talk about how losing muscle has many more serious health consequences. As muscles weaken, many physical functions begin to slow and become impaired. If this problem is unresolved, and you allow muscular weakness to continue into your senior years, you risk losing all independence altogether. The good news is that research has demonstrated that people of all ages can reverse this process through strength training. Stopping muscle loss is of utmost importance to all adults – especially adults 40+ years in age.

I speak to so many people who believe that so called cardio exercises such as jogging and cycling provide them with all the exercise benefits that they need. Yet none of these aerobic exercises can halt muscle loss, let alone reverse it. 

This is a common misunderstanding amongst fitness enthusiasts today.  Wayne Wescott PhD, one of the foremost exercise physiologists in the world, cites a 10 year study which revealed that Americas best masters distance runners lost 5 pounds of muscle between their mid forties and fifties.  This is the same rate of muscle loss seen in sedentary individuals.  So it doesn’t matter if youre a dedicated marathon runner or a couch potato.  If you are not doing anything to build muscle, you are losing muscle and the strength that goes with it. 

Since regular strength training is the only exercise you can do to regain precious muscle tissue, let’s explore how Power Plate training can help you reverse this process.

There are 2 ways in which you can improve functional force (stability, strength or power).  The first way is by applying more mass to the body.   The most common form of strength training use mass – as seen in exercises performed using weight machines and free weights.

The second way is by applying more acceleration to the body.  This is the method we use here at Bodysmart.  We use Power Plates to, by applying acceleration to the body, while keeping mass, i.e. your body weight, the same.

This is a real breakthrough in training and conditioning.  Now, you can now optimally “load” your body while minimizing high impact, high load, and high stress factors.  Gravity is the force that adds load to the human body every second of every day for every movement we perform. Through Acceleration Training™ exercise, Power Plate® machines make the body feel as though it “weighs” more every time acceleration forces increase.

To conclude, strength training is a veritable “fountain of youth”.  Performed properly, it provides more health benefits than any other single form of exercise.  Strength training properly in an ideal environment, with expert instruction and specialised equipment is a safe and superior approach to improving your health and fitness.

Paul Hurley is Master Trainer for BodySmart.  BodySmart combine expert personal training and high technology such as Power Plate machine. 

To find out more, go to www.bodysmart.ie