I have been writing about the GlideCycle and its benefits for more than a year now, and there is still so much to tell! But more than that, what is most exciting is to see people being helped and lives being changed. People with various conditions (amputation, arthritis, obesity, sports injuries, neurological impairments, and many more) are testifying how the GlideCycle has helped them improve their health, gain back their mobility and hope, and even improve their social life and their overall well-being.

Writing about all the benefits of the GlideCycle in just one article would be impossible. That is why I am including a list of articles on the benefits of the GlideCycle below. And these, again, are only a few of them.

The GlideCycle can benefit people suffering from the following conditions:

• arthritis
• diabetes
• multiple sclerosis
• joint disorders (back, knee, ankle, foot, hip)
• war or accident wounds
• leg amputation
• hip replacement
• neurological impairments
• severe balance
• weakness
• loss of motion
• obesity
• …and many more. ANYBODY can benefit from riding the GlideCyle!

Here are just a few testimonies from people who are using the GlideCycle:

The food we eat and the air we breathe go through a complex process in our bodies in order to be turned into energy for our cells. The body’s primary energy-carrying molecule, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), is synthesized through chemical reactions involving dozens of steps.

You can think of these steps as being the rungs of a ladder. Imagine the food at the bottom of the ladder, and after each chemical reaction it climbs one more rung. Since there are so many reactions that need to take place for the energy source to be available, the process is quite slow. In certain circumstances our bodies don’t have enough time to climb the entire ladder and it would simply be beneficial if we were able to skip the first several rungs. And that’s exactly what ribose supplements do.

By supplementing your diet with ribose, you are starting with the ingredient you would find up on the ladder, close to the top. This way your muscles are provided with energy and have the resources necessary to continue working or healing.

If you are still wondering who needs supplemental ribose, I would answer with another question: Who doesn’t need more energy? Everyone can benefit from taking ribose supplements, but these supplements are particularly beneficial for people who need extra energy either for sports activities or to recover after strenuous efforts. Ribose has also been used to reduce fatigue in fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Research shows that ribose promotes cardiovascular health, reduces cardiac stress associated with strenuous activity and helps athletes reach new heights. Ribose helps hearts and muscles maximize energy recovery.

The ribose supplement that I recommend is RiboPure from Wellness Partners.

Reference:

http://www.ribopure.com/about.html

Ruth Taylor

In 2006 the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization released a report that attributed 18% of the world’s man-made greenhouse-gas emissions to livestock. That is more than what’s produced by transportation! According to Nathan Pelletier, an ecological economist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S., cows produce 13 to 30 lb. of carbon dioxide per pound of meat. It is not surprising that after these reports not only vegetarian groups, but also many environmentalist have been calling for an end to eating meat.

In this context, it is quite surprising to hear that two of the most highly regarded organic-vegetable farmers in the country –Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch- have started growing cattle themselves. What do they know that the others don’t?

“Conventional cattle raising is like mining,” cattleman Ridge Shinn explains. “It’s unsustainable, because you’re just taking without putting anything back. But when you rotate cattle on grass, you change the equation. You put back more than you take.”

So, even though it is true that of all the animals that humans eat, none are held more responsible for climate change than the ones that moo, it looks like grass-fed cows may have the opposite effect. Grass is a perennial. If cattle and other ruminants are rotated across pastures full of it, the animals’ grazing will cut the blades, spurring new growth, while their trampling helps work manure and other decaying organic matter into the soil, turning it into rich humus. And healthy soil keeps carbon dioxide underground and out of the atmosphere.

“Much of the carbon footprint of beef comes from growing grain to feed the animals, which requires fossil-fuel-based fertilizers, pesticides, transportation,” says Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma. “Grass-fed beef has a much lighter carbon footprint.” Indeed, although grass-fed cattle may produce more methane than conventional ones (high-fiber plants are harder to digest than cereals, as anyone who has felt the gastric effects of eating broccoli or cabbage can attest), their net emissions are lower because they help the soil sequester carbon.

Allan Savory, a former wildlife conservationist in Zimbabwe, confesses that a while ago he “was prepared to shoot every bloody rancher in the country.” But through rotational grazing of large herds of ruminants, he found he could reverse land degradation, turning dead soil into thriving grassland.

Like him, Coleman now scoffs at the environmentalist vogue for vilifying meat eating. “The idea that giving up meat is the solution for the world’s ills is ridiculous,” he says at his Maine farm. “A vegetarian eating tofu made in a factory from soybeans grown in Brazil is responsible for a lot more CO2 than I am.” A lifetime raising vegetables year-round has taught him to value the elegance of natural systems. Once he and Damrosch have brought in their livestock, they’ll “be able to use the manure to feed the plants, and the plant waste to feed the animals,” he says. “And even though we can’t eat the grass, we’ll be turning it into something we can.”

So, grass-fed cows could save the planet. And not only that. The meat coming from grass-fed cows is much healthier that that coming from grains and hormones fed cows. Unfortunately, most of the beef available for us today does not come from a farm, but from a factory.

Grass-fed cows have radically different nutritional benefits. Gras-fed animal products are a great source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).

Studies suggest that CLA:

• Increases metabolic rate
• Decreases abdominal fat
• Enhances muscle growth
• Lowers cholesterol and triglycerides
• Lowers insulin resistance
• Reduces food-induced allergic reactions
• Enhances your immune system

Feeding cows what they are supposed to eat –grass- would make a big difference both for our health and for our planet.

Reference:

Time Magazine

Dr Mercola

Food, Inc.

Ruth Taylor

Hip pain can be very annoying and frustrating. It can limit not only your mobility, but many other activities as well, since it makes it difficult not only to walk, but even to sit or sometimes lie down.

In order to reduce hip pain, the first thing to do is see what the cause of your pain is and take care of that. Some of the most common causes are: arthritis, trochanteric bursitis, back condition, tendonitis, hip fracture, muscle strains andosteonecrosis, and a few other conditions. Hip pain can also be caused by sore feet or knee pain. Pains that are left untreated often transfer to other parts of your body. For example, if you have pain in your knee, you will most likely begin to alter your walk to take pressure off the knee joint. But this way, your hips are no longer in proper alignment and before long you will begin to feel the ill-effects of this. (If you are interested in reading a great article about how to prevent and reduce knee pain, follow this link: http://blogs.wellnesspartners.com/?p=142 )

An efficient way to reduce hip pain produced by various causes is to increase strength and flexibility of the muscles that support the hip. The strengthening exercises will help support the joint better and have less stress on the hip. Increased flexibility can also reduce pain, by relieving the stress on the joint. It is also recommended to consult a physical therapist who can evaluate your condition and prescribe a program that is appropriate for your specific condition.

Some easy exercises that will strengthen the muscles of your hip are:

LEG LIFT

Lie on your left side, with your left leg bent and the right one resting on the ground. Slowly lift your top leg 2 feet off the ground and hold 5 seconds, then slowly lower the leg. After you repeat this 5 times, change legs.

HIP FLEXION

While standing up straight, lift one leg off the floor and bend it so that you create a 90-degree angle at the hip. After 5 seconds slowly lower the leg. Repeat 5 times, then change legs.

WALL SLIDE

Stand upright with your back against a wall and feet shoulder width apart. Slowly bend your knees, sliding your back down the wall for a count of 5 until your knees are bent at a 45-degree angle. Do not bend too much further so as not to strain your knees. Hold this position for 5 seconds, and then begin straightening your knees for a count of five, sliding up the wall until you are fully upright with knees straight. Repeat this exercise 5 times.

In order to increase the flexibility of your muscles, you can do various stretch exercises. A few of them are:

LEG SWINGS

One easy leg swing exercise consists of simply lifting one foot and swinging your leg backward while standing. Hold for 2 or 3 seconds and return your foot to the starting position. Repeat 5 times with each leg. It is recommended to do this exercise while holding on to something to maintain balance.

The above exercise can also be done swinging your leg forward.

A similar exercise consists of swinging your leg to the side. While doing this, don’t allow your torso to rotate.

INTERNAL ROTATION

While lying on your back bring your knee to your chest, clasp your hands on the front of your shin and internally rotate the hip while keeping the pelvis as flat as possible.

Low-impact activities such as walking, biking and swimming, are great for people suffering from hip pain. A revolutionary new trainer that provides great exercise for people with mobility limitations is the GlideCycle. For more information and to see some amazing videos, visit http://www.glidecycle.com/

Staying healthy and in a good shape is mostly up to you. And all you need for that is available to you. No, I’m not talking about a magic pill, nor about a super plant that will cure any illness and make you stay young forever. Staying healthy is a lifestyle.

You don’t need specific foods for specific ailments. A healthy diet incorporating a variety of nutritious vitamin rich foods will help you maintain your weight , fight disease, and live longer. One thing all these foods have in common is that they are going to be “real” (unprocessed) food. “You don’t find fortified potato chips in the superfood category” says nutritionist Elizabeth Somer, author of Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy and The Essential Guide to Vitamins and Minerals.

“I’d say that 50% to 70% of suffering could be eliminated by what people eat and how they move: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension can all be impacted”, Somer says. “Even people who are healthy can make a few tweaks and the impact will be amazing”.

Another important thing is how we combine the foods we eat. Eating foods in the correct combination helps us get the most out of them. For example, adding unsaturated fats such as olive oil, nuts or avocados to the salad helps release the antioxidants in the vegetables. Using herbs and spices to marinade meat reduces carcinogenic compounds grilling can cause. And the list could continue.

To find out more about what some healthy foods are and what the best way to combine them is, watch this video:

One of the key elements that make a successful athlete is high speed. Nine times out of ten, the teams or athletes with the most speed are going to win.

While everybody agrees on the importance of speed in order to be successful in sports, not all coaches focus on developing the skill of speed as a preliminary element of their training. Arguably the biggest myth in all of sports says you can’t coach speed -that athletes are born with “it” or they aren’t.

Speed, strength, flexibility, coordination and endurance are all skills requiring specific attention during practice and those who do not train focusing on these elements are simply not prepared to compete at high levels.

Speed can be taught and improved. There are training strategies and overspeed training equipment that can help coach speed. Because some people aren’t “naturally fast” some coaches wrongly assume there is little they can do about it. While it’s true not every athlete can be an Olympic 100 meter runner, most athletes have never been taught how to run or move correctly. As they improve their technique and practice focused training, the athletes will operate at a much higher percentage of their full potential.

The best type of trainers that helps athlete get the most out of speed training is unweighted training equipment.

The unweighted training equipment allows you to run at a fraction of your body weight.

There are several different unweighted training devices, but the basic idea in all of them is that the athlete is supported in a harness or an inflated enclosure and this way he/ she can run on a treadmill or on a track without pressure on his/ her joints and ligaments and without his legs having to support his full body weight.

Exercise physiologists reckon that it’s easier to “teach” muscle cells to function at accelerated firing rates if the nerves and muscles don’t have to simultaneously worry about supporting full body weight.

Unweighted training devices:

The Alter-G treadmill creates a seal around the user’s waist and then inflates to create a pressurized environment that can take away up to 80% of the user’s body, lessening the pounding to the joints. The running speed and incline can be adjusted, along with what percent of weight should be removed.

The GlideTrak is basically a specialized metal frame that goes over pretty much any treadmill. The athlete is strapped into the metal frame and runs on the treadmill with virtually zero impact. The straps are parachute grade 8,000 lbs tested, so the device is very stable and secure.

The GlideCycle is similar to the GlideTrak, but it is an outdoor device. The athlete is again supported by straps in a seat, but the frame he is strapped into has two wheels, just like a bicycle. The GlideCycle has no pedals, so the rider pushes himself/ herself forward using his/ her legs.

We will be publishing more posts on speed and overspeed training, so keep an eye on our blog.

For more information on the above mentioned devices, click on the links in their names. You will be taken to pages where you can find more information, pictures and lots of videos.

ScienceDaily (Jan. 12, 2010) — A new study reinforces the potential value of stem cells in repairing major injuries involving the loss of bone structure.

The study shows that delivering stem cells on a polymer scaffold to treat large areas of missing bone leads to improved bone formation and better mechanical properties compared to treatment with the scaffold alone. This type of therapeutic treatment could be a potential alternative to bone grafting operations.

“Massive bone injuries are among the most challenging problems that orthopedic surgeons face, and they are commonly seen as a result of accidents as well as in soldiers returning from war,” said the study’s lead author Robert Guldberg, a professor in Georgia Tech’s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. “This study shows that there is promise in treating these injuries by delivering stem cells to the injury site. These are injuries that would not heal without significant medical intervention.”

In this picture:

Micro-CT (top) and X-ray (bottom) images of bone formation in massive bone defects that received a polymer scaffold alone (left), a scaffold seeded with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal adult stem cells (middle), and a scaffold seeded with amniotic fluid fetal stem cells (right). (Credit: Image courtesy of Robert Guldberg)

Details of the research were published in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on January 11, 2010. This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

The study was conducted in rats in which two bone gaps eight millimeters in length were created to simulate massive injuries. One gap was treated with a polymer scaffold seeded with stem cells and the other with scaffold only. The results showed that injuries treated with the stem cell scaffolds showed significantly more bone growth than injuries treated with scaffolds only.

Guldberg and mechanical engineering graduate student Kenneth Dupont experimented with scaffolds containing two different types of human stem cells — bone marrow-derived mesenchymal adult stem cells and amniotic fluid fetal stem cells.

“We were able to directly evaluate the therapeutic potential of human stem cells to repair large bone defects by implanting them into rats with a reduced immune system,” explained Guldberg, who is also the director of the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech.

Micro-CT measurements showed no significant differences in bone regeneration between the two stem cell groups. However, combining the two types of stem cells produced significantly higher bone volume and strength compared to scaffolds without cellular augmentation.

Although stem cell delivery significantly enhanced bone growth and biomechanical properties, it was not able to consistently repair the injury. Eight weeks after the treatment, new bone bridged the gaps in four of nine defects treated with scaffolds seeded with adult stem cells, one of nine defects treated with scaffolds seeded with fetal stem cells, and none of the defects treated with the scaffold alone.

“We thought that the functional regeneration of the bone defects may have been limited by stem cells migrating away from the injury site, so we decided to investigate the fate and distribution of the delivered cells,” said Guldberg.

To do this, Guldberg labeled stem cells with fluorescent quantum dots — nanometer-scale particles that emit light when excited by near-infrared radiation — to track the distribution of stem cells after delivery on the scaffolds and completed the same experiments as previously described.

Throughout the entire study, the researchers observed significant fluorescence at the stem cell scaffold sites. However, beginning seven to 10 days after treatment, signals appeared at the scaffold-only sites. Additional analysis with immunostaining revealed that the quantum dots present at the scaffold-only sites were contained in inflammatory cells called macrophages that had taken up quantum dots released from dead stem cells.

“While our overall study shows that stem cell therapy has a lot of promise for treating massive bone defects, this experiment shows that we still need to develop an improved way of delivering the stem cells so that they stay alive longer and thus remain at the injury site longer,” explained Guldberg.

The researchers also found that the quantum dots diminished the function of the transplanted stem cells and thus their therapeutic effect. When the stem cells were labeled with quantum dots, the results showed a failure to enhance bone formation or bridge defects. However, the same low concentration of quantum dots did not affect cell viability or the ability of the stem cells to become bone cells in laboratory studies.

“Although in vitro laboratory studies remain important, this work provides further evidence that well-characterized in vivo models are necessary to test the ability of regenerative tissue strategies to effectively integrate and restore function in complex living organisms,” added Guldberg. “Improved methods of non-invasive cell tracking that do not alter cell function in vivo are needed to optimize stem cell delivery strategies and compare the effectiveness of different stem cell sources for tissue regeneration.”

Guldberg is currently exploring alternative cell tracking methods, such as genetically modifying the stem cells to express green fluorescent protein and/or other luminescent enzymes such as luciferase. He is also investigating the addition of programming cues to the scaffold that will direct the stem cells to differentiate into bone cells. These signals may be particularly effective for fetal stem cells, which are believed to be more primitive than adult stem cells, according to Guldberg.

Lessons learned from the current work are also being applied to develop effective stem cell therapies for severe composite injuries to multiple tissues including bone, nerve, vasculature and muscle. This follow-on work is being conducted in the Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Bioengineering for Soldier Survivability in collaboration with Ravi Bellamkonda and Barbara Boyan, professors in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.

Other authors on the paper include Andrés García, professor and Woodruff Faculty Fellow in Georgia Tech’s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience; Georgia Tech research scientist Hazel Stevens, Georgia Tech graduate student Joel Boerckel; and National University of Ireland medical student Kapil Sharma.

Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Injuries are inevitable in sports, and weather you have a pulled muscle, a sprained ankle or a broken leg or foot, the first thing the doctor will recommend is REST. And that sets the athlete back in his/ her training and conditioning, separates him/ her from the rest of the team and can affect his/ her performance. Exercising in spite of the pain can cause more severe injuries.

Fortunately, there are several trainers that can help the injured athlete get back in shape while recovering from lower body injuries. The most beneficial type of exercise in this case is low impact exercise and there are three trainers that are recommended in this situation:

• AlterG
• GlideTrak
• GlideCycle

The AlterG and the GlideTrak are indoor trainers and are used with a treadmill (virtually any treadmill works with the GlideTrak, but you will need a specific treadmill for the AlterG). The GlideCycle is very similar to a GlideTrak, but it has two wheels and is designed for outdoor use.

All three trainers allow the athlete to run without putting strain on his/ her joints and ligaments, by reducing their effective body weight. The AlterG achieves this by inflating an enclosure which the athlete is zipped into. Air pressure elevates the user’s body, counteracting the force of gravity. As for the GlideTrak or the GlideCycle, they achieve the same “unweighted” state by suspending the athlete in a saddle which is adjustable and allows the pressure on the lower body to be taken away in various degrees.

The AlterG, the GlideTrak and the GlideCycle

• reduce direct and cumulative impact on a runner
• can be used after surgery on knees, hips, ankles, etc.
• can be used to increase aerobic conditioning even if you have knee, hip or back problems
• can be used for neurologic retraining
• can be used for weight control and reduction

These “anti-gravity” trainers are also great for cross training. By reducing the wear and tear of conditioning, they can help extend an athlete’s career. They also provide an excellent way to do exercise that prevents injuries.

Even if different in appearance, all these three devices offer similar benefits and can be used towards the same goals.

To see a side by side comparison of these trainers click here.

Ruth Taylor

Just a few days ago DailyNews published an article about a very interesting piece of fitness equipment, called AlterG.  Developed at NASA Ames Research Center more than a decade ago for exercising in space, this treadmill has seen more athletes than astronauts lately. What makes it a great training device for athletes is the fact that it reduces the force of gravity on your legs. This way, injured athletes can train on it and stay in shape while recovering from injuries. At the same time, due to its anti-gravity properties, it is great as a cross-trainer, that helps reduce the impact of running on injured muscles and tendons.

How does AlterG work?

The AlterG treadmill creates a seal around the user’s waist and then inflates to create a pressurized environment that can take away up to 80% of the user’s body weight, lessening the pounding to the joints.

Is AlterG unlike anything else on the market?

I enjoyed reading the DailyNews article about this interesting device, the history of its creation and its success with various sports teams, and I surely agree with all the benefits of low-impact exercise. One thing I would have to argue about though is the statement that the AlterG is “the only machine of its kind on the market.” The GlideTrak is another new revolutionary low-impact trainer that brings the same exercise benefits as the AlterG, but at a much more affordable cost.

AlterG & GlideTrak/ GlideCycle –similar benefits

Just like the AlterG, the GlideTrak facilitates a movement that’s like “a walk on the moon”. And it also comes in a GlideCycle form, which gives you the ability to experience the same great feeling while enjoying the outdoors. The GlideTrak’s/ GlideCycle’s virtual zero impact running allows athletes to maintain cardio/aerobic fitness levels while recovering from injuries.  The GlideTrak/ GlideCycle also provides excellent cross training, balancing the body and preventing hamstring injuries. The use of these trainers can extend an athlete’s career by reducing the wear and tear of conditioning while keeping him or her physically fit. They are ideal for performance enhancement, especially in running athletes, for improving and maximizing stride length, for power and speed training, and for a comfortable mode of difficult-to-achieve conditioning for larger athletes.

As you can see, these products are very much similar in the type of exercise they provide and they offer quite the same benefits.

And now comes the big difference:

The prices for AlterG run from USD $24,000 to $75,000 or leases for about $500 a month.

The price for the GlideTrak is USD $2,449 and only $1,649 for the GlideCycle.

To see a side-by-side comparison of the AlterG, GlideTrak and GlideCycle click here