Exercise and Mental Health

by Thom Van Vleck

This is your brain on barbells!

This is your brain on barbells!

As many of you know I work as a Counselor at A.T. Still University.  We have several programs all related to the healthcare field and all graduate level.  My job it to make sure our students are taken care of from a mental health standpoint.

A long time ago I realized there was a connection between mental health and exercise.  My first test subject was myself!  When I was a teen I had a heavy dose of angst, depression, and anxiety.  I found that lifting weights and exercise did me a world of good.

So when I came to ATSU I started a weightlifting club.  They go by the Osteoblasters Weightlifting Club because our school is the founding school of Osteopathic Medicine.  I did it because of my interest in weightlifting but also I realized the importance of exercise and mental health.

So why does exercise impact mental health positively?  For one thing exercise stimulates the production of endorphins and enkephalins.  These are the body’s natural “feel good” hormones.  But it goes beyond that.  Exercise requires focus.  That focus takes us away from the negative self talk that often dominates our thoughts.  The things we worry about and obsess about are pushed out as we focus in the moment on the exercise we are doing.  Exercise also gives us a place where we belong.  A positive social group and interactions.  Like the USAWA!

Let’s take this a step further.  We have for a long time separated mental health from physical health.  We even call physicians who deal with mental health a whole different name!  Psychiatrists!  But I’ve preached for a long time that mental health is physical health.  The brain is an organ attached to the rest of the body.  It suffers illness just like any other organ but the symptoms are behaviors not pains.  The brain has no pain receptors so often the only way you can tell something is wrong is through behaviors.

There is now research that shows that mental health conditions are associated with reduced neurogenesis in the hippocampus.  Guess what increases neurogenesis in the brain?  You guessed it.  Exercise. Anti depressants also increase neurogenesis and that is why they are believed to work.  I think a good workout would be the preferred method.  Then if that doesn’t work try the anti-depressants.

So it’s not just muscles you’re building.  It’s mental health!  And don’t forget, Mental Health is Physical Health that involves the brain as an organ.  It’s not “All in your head….it’s all in your brain!”

National Meeting of the USAWA

By Al Myers

The National Championships are about here, and with that comes the Annual National Meeting of the USAWA.   It will be held on June 21st, Friday night, at 7PM.  It will be at the house of our President Denny Habecker.  His address is: 637 N. 11th Ave, Lebanon, PA.  Please try to make the meeting if possible as all the yearly decisions are made at this meeting. Plus this is the year for USAWA elections – so if you want to run for office this is your opportunity.  I have worked up the meeting agenda, which is still subject to change.

 

Business Agenda for the 2019 USAWA National Meeting

  1. Meeting called to order by USAWA President Denny Habecker
  2. Roll Call by USAWA President Denny Habecker
  3. Reading of previous meeting minutes by USAWA Secretary Al Myers
  4. Report of financial status by USAWA Treasurer Al Myers
  5. Report from Website Director Al Myers
  6. Report from Awards Director Al Myers
  7. Report from Records Director Al Myers
  8. Report from Drug Enforcement Director Chad Ullom
  9. Report from Officials Director Joe Garcia
  10. Report from Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker
  11. Report from IAWA Technical Committee Chairman Dennis Mitchell on upcoming IAWA events and other technical issues that are being discussed by the IAWA Technical Committee
  12. Discussion and Vote on Rule Changes for Strict Curl, Holdout Raised, and Holdout Lowered
  • Loosen rules to NOT involve the use of paper, making the USAWA rule the same as the IAWAUK rule
  1. Discussion and Vote on bylaw addition allowing provisional USAWA memberships
  • Provisional memberships are for non USA citizens – not eligible for records but all other aspects of membership is allowed
  1. Change age allowance to be the same as the IAWA rule
  • At the age of 66 years 2% per year is added to the age correction
  1. Discussion of New Business brought forth by the membership
  2. Election of Officers and Executive Board
  • Current Officers: Denny Habecker – President, Chad Ullom – Vice President, Al Myers – Secretary/Treasurer, Dennis Mitchell – EB member, Rocky Morrison – EB member
  1. Accept Bids for the 2020 National Championships
  • One prior proposal by Frank Ciavattone, to be held in Walpole, MA the last weekend of June
  1. Meeting Adjourned

** *If a Director or an Officer is unable to attend this meeting to give their report PLEASE send it to me so I can give it on your behalf!***

Work vs a Workout

by Thom Van Vleck

Farm Boy Strong!

Farm Boy Strong!

My first workout instruction book was given to me by my Uncle Wayne.  It was written by Doug Hepburn and my uncle bought it in 1957 and I still have it.  It was the first workout routine I followed.  There was a chapter in there on rest.  It said work was not rest and should be avoided if the lifter wanted to make maximum gains.  I tried telling my mom the yard work she wanted me to do was cutting into my gains.  She wasn’t having none of that!  I still had to do the yard work!

My grandfather was an avid weightlifter.  His collar was also as blue as they come and grew up on the farm before tractors were common.  He worked hard his whole life.  Sometimes holding down three jobs to take care of his family.  He also rarely missed a workout!  I recall him teaching me how to turn work into a workout.  We were shoveling after a deep snow.  He said to shovel 5 times to the left and 5 times to the right.  Always keep balanced.  Whatever I did one way I should do an equal amount to the other side.  Squat down to pick things up and equal number of time to bending over to pick things up.  Find ways to get in exercise while you work.  He would do calf raises while standing at his work bench.  That way work became a workout.  Because a workout, like work, tears the body down.   The difference is that workouts are balanced.

Then when I was a teen I had a manual labor job.  I hated it but I liked having money.  I dreaded going to work and watched the clock for quitting time.  I worked with a guy that had a great attitude.  He made everything a game.  If we had to stack up sacks of flour he would say, “Race ya!” and we would race to see who could fill a pallet the fastest.  When I started looking at work that way the clock disappeared and it was quitting time before I knew it.

When I first started working out I honestly hated it.  It was a means to an end.  I wanted to be and look strong and this was the way to do it.  After awhile, when I saw results, I started to enjoy workouts.  They gained intrinsic value to me.  I think that’s why over 40 years later I’m still doing it.  I took the work out of my work outs.

A few years back I had to cut down a very large dead elm tree on my property.  I went after it like a workout.  I did sets and reps and varied how I carried the wood keeping things balanced. I made a game out of it.  It was a really good workout in the end.

So my point is that the difference between work and a work out is balance and attitude.  Bring both to your work and your workouts and you’ll be better off in the end!

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