By Daniel Heller, MSc, CSCS, RSCC
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We’ve all had a bad night’s sleep. And we’ve all felt like we don’t want to do anything physical the day after. We’re human. So do you skip working out that day? The answer is simple. If you have a bad night’s sleep occasionally, show up and modify your workout to adjust to your energy level. If you routinely wake up unrefreshed and tired, see your health care provider. Basic principle: move! Sleeping poorly and feeling tired are two common responses to stress and one of the great excuses to not exercise. Ironically, some form of adjusted physical activity may be the antidote to fatigue and sleeplessness.

Your biological clock
There is an area of biology worth exploring that can influence the relationship between sleep, energy, and physical activity: your biological clock. Your biological clock is your innate timing device. It is composed of specific molecules (proteins) that interact in cells throughout the body. Biological clocks are found in nearly every tissue and organ. Biological clocks produce circadian rhythms--the physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle.  Sleeping at night and being awake during the day are an example of a light-related circadian rhythm. Other circadian bodily functions include feeding, body temperature, and hormone production. Here’s a quick reference for circadian rhythms.1 Your diurnal variations refer to fluctuations in how you feel in response circadian rhythms throughout the day.2 Finally, your chronotype is the time of day you feel most awake.

Chronotype, diurnal variation, exercise, and timing
Becoming aware of how the time of day affects you can help inform decisions about when best to engage in physical activities and, to some extent, help you understand how natural rhythms affect the ebb and flow of your feelings.

How would you describe your chronotype? Are you a morning person, a midday person, or an evening person? Next, think about diurnal variations in your mood and energy throughout the day and evening. What times are you most productive and energized? What times of day or evening are your low points?
Now, assuming you typically sleep well, do your diurnal variations in mood and energy align with your chronotype? For example, if you are a morning person, do you feel energy and a readiness to face the day when you wake? Or, when midday arrives, are you just getting your stride? A word to “night owls:” Allow at least an hour between exercise and bedtime since strenuous physical activity wakes you up.4
If you can align your exercise schedule with your chronotype, this could be ideal timing. Unfortunately, daily commitments conspire to make this problematic. Knowing your diurnal variations in mood and energy offers additional opportunities to choose times that encourage motivation to work out. Recognizing we are hard-wired to our biological clock provides greater insight into forces contributing to how we think, feel, and behave. Knowing this can help you personalize and organize your time, especially around exercise.


Sleep disruption, fatigue, and exercise
Support yourself through physical activity and explore how best to encourage yourself through the barrier of fatigue. Chronic stress, whether emotional, social, or economic, can disrupt the circadian rhythm affecting your sleep/wake cycle. Some disruption is normal, but see your healthcare provider if you suffer from chronic sleep disturbances. It’s okay to modify your workouts to make it a little easier on yourself, maybe take away a little bit of the complexity of a workout. Research shows that a few physical performance indicators might decrease if we are fatigued, but it does not demonstrate that it should not be done.2,5-7 For example our ability to perform an agility task could be decreased if we’re tired because our coordination might be off and our ability to make quick decisions might be a little slow.2 Knowing that these are potential effects of a poor night’s sleep, consider modifying your workout to keep it safe. The table below provides an illustration of recommendations for workout modification.

Sleep disruption, fatigue, and exercise
​Support yourself through physical activity and explore how best to encourage yourself through the barrier of fatigue. Chronic stress, whether emotional, social, or economic, can disrupt the circadian rhythm affecting your sleep/wake cycle. Some disruption is normal, but see your healthcare provider if you suffer from chronic sleep disturbances. It’s okay to modify your workouts to make it a little easier on yourself, maybe take away a little bit of the complexity of a workout. Research shows that a few physical performance indicators might decrease if we are fatigued, but it does not demonstrate that it should not be done.2,5-7 For example our ability to perform an agility task could be decreased if we’re tired because our coordination might be off and our ability to make quick decisions might be a little slow.2 Knowing that these are potential effects of a poor night’s sleep, consider modifying your workout to keep it safe. The table below provides an illustration of recommendations for workout modification.

We all know that hydration is important, especially as the weather warms up and we spend more time outside. But when it comes to getting our eight glasses of water a day, there are numerous options, with some claiming to be better than others. But is there any real difference? We took a look at 10 different kinds to see which hold water.

1. Tap
The water that comes out of your kitchen faucet (and bathroom faucets, toilets, garden hose, washing machine, etc.) comes from the local water supply and can be potable. However, when it comes to drinking water, a growing number of people choose alternative sources based on fear of what’s in the local water supply or their own research.1,2

The Environmental Working Group analyzes state water tests and provides reports on local water supply based on ZIP code. However, it’s worth noting that legal limits for water contaminants can be 20 years old and do not necessarily indicate safety.3 Tap water can contain bacteria, pesticides, unhealthy levels of minerals, lead, and other contaminants, including glyphosate.1-4

Many people who don’t want the added plastic waste (as well as the convenience) choose to invest in filtrations systems. These can range from simple and inexpensive activated charcoal water filters, like Brita® filters, to more expensive reverse osmosis filtration systems. 

2. Purified
Purified water takes ground water or the water that comes from your tap and treats it to remove the impurities such as chemicals, bacteria, and other contaminants. There are several ways this is done, including reverse osmosis (see #3 below) and through ion exchange.5 In order to be designated as purified, the treated water must follow EPA regulations for drinking water, meaning that it may have no more than 10 ppm of solids like calcium, sulfate, heavy metals, ammonia, and other substances, and its pH must be in the range of 5–7.5
The downside to purified water is that along with the removal of harmful substances, minerals such as fluoride, which is commonly added to tap water, is removed as well.

3. Reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis uses ultrathin membranes to filter impurities out of tap water cost-effectively.6 Studies are being done regularly on new materials for these membranes, but it is clear that this system of purification is effective for the removal of numerous microbial contaminants, as well as other organic compounds.6,7
As with other purified water options, reverse osmosis also removes beneficial minerals from the drinking water. In addition, the system must be monitored and cleaned regularly to ensure the membranes are not degraded and are filtering properly.7

4. Distilled
An older type of purified water, distilled water is made by boiling water; the steam is then condensed back into a liquid to remove any impurities. As with other types of purified water, minerals are also removed in the distillation process.8 While it is safe to drink distilled water, it shouldn’t be the only source of drinking water.
That said, distilled water has many useful purposes. Since it is so pure, distilled water is an inexpensive and convenient option for numerous household uses including in steam irons, automobiles, and humidifiers.

5. Spring/glacial
Many bottled waters claim to be bottled at the source, usually a natural spring or glacier. Springs are formed when flowing ground water finds its way to the surface, whether through natural or man-made means.8 Since the sources, means of access, and initial water quality can vary greatly, the resulting bottled water may contain safe mineral levels but may also contain microbes, bacteria, and pollutants.9
Similarly, glacial water quality depends on the source and may contain contaminants above safe levels.10

6. Mineral
A specific kind of spring water, mineral water comes from mineral springs or underground reservoirs that contain at least 250 ppm of minerals and trace elements such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium, minerals the body can’t make itself.11,12 Mineral water may be treated to remove contaminants or to add carbon dioxide, although some mineral water naturally contains CO2 from its source.11

7. Sparkling
Like mineral water, sparkling water contains carbon dioxide and is often sold as soda water, seltzer water, or club soda. It can be a lower-calorie alternative to soda for those who prefer their water to be fizzy. The carbonation may be added naturally or artificially, and sparkling water may or may not contain minerals, also either naturally or artificially added.13

Be sure to look at labels, since some flavored sparkling waters have added sugars.

8. Alkaline
One of the latest trends in drinking water is alkaline water. Alkaline water gets its name from its pH level, which is higher than normal tap water. On a scale of 14, tap water tends to sit right in the middle, with a pH level ranging from 6.5 to 8.5.14 Alkaline water’s pH level can range from slightly to significantly higher.
In addition, alkaline water contains minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. These alkaline minerals give alkaline water antioxidizing properties.15

Alkaline water tends to have a bitter taste and can cause deposits in pipes if the tap water is naturally alkaline.16

You may have read claims that alkaline water is better for you because it helps to neutralize acid in the body. It is said to provide better hydration and reduce gastrointestinal issues. However, while adding antioxidant-rich foods to your diet is healthy, your body has its own ways of keeping a neutral pH level. In fact, moving your levels too far on either end of the pH scale can be unhealthy.17 The stomach’s acidity level is ideal for killing off harmful bacteria; neutralizing it can have adverse effects. Drinking too much alkaline water can cause skin irritations, nausea, and vomiting.18
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A few studies have been done that claimed an alkaline-rich diet may support bone health and healthy blood pressure levels and help increase blood oxygen levels, but the studies were very small, and there is little evidence to support these claims.16 Note that an alkaline-rich diet is not the same as drinking alkaline water. There are components in an “alkaline diet” (such as it being more plant-based) other than pH that may contribute to beneficial effects.

9. Well
Back in the day, many people got their drinking and cooking water from wells. But even though tap water is easily accessible for most of us, approximately 13 million homes still get their drinking water from private wells.19 Well water is ground water accessed by drilling and then brought to the surface through a pump system. As with other ground water sources, well water may contain any number of minerals or impurities, but as well water is not regulated by the EPA, well owners are responsible for testing and treating the water and for assuming any risks.19

10. Vitamin
Some bottled water companies have started selling vitamin-infused water as a “healthier” alternative to plain bottled water. While it is a simple alternative for those who don’t follow a nutritious diet or prefer not to take supplements in pill form, vitamin water can problematic for a couple of different reasons.
To start with (and as a general rule for any flavored beverage), check that label. Some bottled vitamin waters contain added sugar to make it more palatable. In addition, while some contain a small amount of electrolytes that can help replenish what’s lost during exercise, these products tend to contain vitamins people are rarely deficient in.20

All this talk of water may have you feeling thirsty. So when you reach for a glass or bottle, which water will you choose to fill it?

​Tennis is a great game for staying in shape. The fitness you develop from a tennis game has an added bonus: It carries over into the rest of your life. By playing tennis, you also improve your functional fitness or your ability to do ordinary things, like carry a sack of groceries in from the car or climb a flight of stairs. The better your functional fitness, the better you can get through all the usual activities of your typical day with ease—and with energy left over for tennis.
Exercises to build functional fitness aim to mimic the activities of daily living by working several muscle groups at once. They’re designed to improve your strength, flexibility, endurance, range of motion, and balance, because you need all those abilities every time you do something like pick up a toddler, or reach for something on a high shelf, or carry a briefcase. Because they build overall fitness, they’re also great for your tennis game!
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Exercises for functional fitness
Functional fitness exercises focus on building a strong core and then working several major muscles groups of the body at once. The five exercises I suggest here are a good basic workout that doesn’t require any special equipment—you’re going to use just your body weight. Plenty of other exercises also build functional fitness, so once you’ve mastered these, change up your routine by swapping some other exercises in and out.

The Plank
This most fundamental of exercises is key to a strong core—it engages your abs, lower back, hips, and arms. This is the one functional fitness exercise that should always be part of your workout routine, because your core muscles are continually engaged when you play tennis.

1. Lie face-down on a mat in push-up position. Place your forearms on the mat at shoulder width, with your elbows aligned under your shoulders.
2. Flex your arms and push up, keeping your back straight, until you are supported only by your toes and your forearms. Look down to keep your head in a neutral position.
3. Hold for at least 15 seconds. As you get better at this, hold for as long as possible, at least 30 seconds.

Two-Legged SquatThis is a great functional fitness exercise for building up and coordinating your leg muscles, especially the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves—the muscles that control your knees and hips. By doing this regularly, you improve your ability to get up and down from chairs, pick things up off the ground, and climb steps. For your tennis game, strong legs give you a strong foundation for your strokes and improve your ability to transfer your weight.

1. Stand upright, with your legs apart a little wider than shoulder width and your arms at your sides.
2. Pull your shoulder blades in toward each other a bit to tighten your abdominal muscles.
3. Slowly bend your knees and push your rear end and hips down behind you, just as if you were sitting down in a chair. Keep your knees aligned over your ankles and your toes pointing forward. As you lower your body, raise your arms up in front of you.
4. Keep lowering your body until your thighs and arms are parallel to the floor. Hold for 10 seconds.
5. Slowly raise yourself upright again, while lowering your arms back down to your sides. Repeat 10 times.

Tip: As you get better at this exercise, try doing it as a deep squat instead. Instead of stopping when your thighs are parallel to the floor, go down as low as you can, keeping your arms extended.

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​Push-Ups
The plain old push-up is one of those basic exercises we tend to overlook, but it’s great for strengthening your core, your gluteus maximus and the chest, shoulder and arm muscles. You’ll notice the difference when you’re lifting or carrying something heavy or reaching up to get something in or out of a cabinet. You’ll also see a difference in your strokes—strong arms and shoulders are key to good control.

1. Get on your hands and knees (the quadruped position) on a mat. Place your hands a bit more than shoulder-width apart. Extend your legs straight back and flex your feet so you’re supported on your toes. Keep your back straight and your belly tightened. Look down to keep your head in a neutral position.
2. Keeping your legs straight, lower your chest toward to the floor until your elbows are bent 90 degrees, then push yourself up. Repeat 10 times.

Bird Dogs
Bird dogs, also known as pointers, are great for the muscles of the lower back and thighs and the upper arms. If you do these, you’ll notice the difference in anything you do that requires lifting or bending. You’ll find that you’re more flexible on the tennis court. 

1. Start in the quadruped position, on your hands and knees. Raise your right arm until it is parallel to the floor and point it forward, like a bird dog showing where a duck is.
2. Simultaneously extend your left leg back behind you until it is parallel to the floor. Balance on your left arm and right leg.
3. Hold for 10 seconds, then bring your arm and leg back to the quadruped position and repeat with the left arm and right leg. Continue alternating arms and legs for 10 reps.

​About Robert SilvermanRobert G. Silverman, DC, DACBN, DCBCN, MS, CCN, CNS, CSCS, CIISN, CKTP, CES, HKC, FAKTR is a chiropractic doctor, clinical nutritionist and author of Inside-Out Health: A Revolutionary Approach to Your Body, an Amazon number-one bestseller in 2016. The ACA Sports Council named Dr. Silverman “Sports Chiropractor of the Year” in 2015. He also maintains a busy private practice as founder of Westchester Integrative Health Center, which specializes in the treatment of joint pain using functional nutrition along with cutting-edge, science-based, nonsurgical approaches. Dr. Silverman is a seasoned health and wellness expert on both the speaking circuits and within the media. He has appeared on FOX News Channel, FOX, NBC, CBS, CW affiliates as well as The Wall Street Journal and NewsMax, to name a few. He was invited as a guest speaker on “Talks at Google” to discuss his current book. As a frequent published author for Dynamic Chiropractic, JACA, ACA News, Chiropractic Economics, The Original Internist and Holistic Primary Care journals, Dr. Silverman is a thought leader in his field and practice.

You can’t beat the “meal in a cup” convenience of a smoothie or shake. A smoothie or a shake also provides built-in portion control, which can be so helpful. However, whether it’s Instagram-ready or a basic powder-water combo, your beverage should do more than just fill you up on the way out the door. So check out these seven smoothie upgrades—and become a shake master in the process.

1. Powders—start smart. Choose your powder wisely, as it’s the foundation of your shake. Expect more from a powder than just a pleasing flavor, texture, and adequate protein. It should also deliver the essential vitamins and minerals—in the most bioavailable forms that your body needs—without the artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and GMOs it can do without. Of course, many individuals may also desire a gluten- and dairy-free formulation. Look for products from a GMP-certified manufacturer. Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification is your assurance of product quality and your best strategy for reducing exposure to contamination, heavy metals, or inactive ingredients.
2. Liquids—keep ’em cold. For best taste, always mix your powder with a chilled liquid. Add ice!
3. Variety is the spice of life. Change it up! Luckily, base powders come in a wide variety of flavors. Likewise, experiment with dairy or dairy alternative beverages for different tastes and textures. Make a change now and then to avoid “flavor fatigue.”
4. Get creative and enhance nutrition with add-ins!

• Increase fiber and satiety by adding fruit to your shake. Berries (ideally organic) in particular will give an antioxidant boost. If you don’t regularly eat much fruit, this is an easy way to get a serving of fruit each day. For convenience and cost savings, use frozen fruit. Add it to a blender with or instead of ice.
• Bring on the nonstarchy vegetables, especially greens, such as kale or spinach or even fresh herbs! If you want your drink to have more volume, fiber-rich nonstarchy vegetables will fill you up with few added calories. Try adding as much as two cups of vegetables. Bonus: It’s a great way to clean out your crisper and reduce food waste!
• Nuts and seeds. Add a serving of seeds to your shake for extra flavor and texture. Almonds, almond butter, and walnuts, as well as unsweetened, shredded coconut all work very well. Chia seeds and ground flaxseed act like natural thickeners and add fiber as well as omega-3 fatty acids.
• Herbs, spices, & more. Try some of these combinations or even try mixing powder flavors.
  • Chocolate-flavored shake powders: carob, cacao, powdered cinnamon, or fresh mint
  • Vanilla-flavored shake powders: vanilla extract, cilantro, cardamom, cinnamon, or nutmeg
  • Fruit-flavored shake powders: fresh lemon or lime juice or fresh grated ginger

1. Shaker, blender, or high-speed blender? Bottom line: Use whichever is most convenient for you. Here’s a run-down of the pros and cons.

• Shaker cups = convenience. However, if you want to add fruits or vegetables, a blender is a must.
• High-speed blenders. Vitamix, Blend-Tecs, Ninjas, etc., can process just about any fruits, vegetables, or other add-ins into a relatively smooth shake. But you’ll pay a price premium for their powerful motors.
• Standard blenders. Any kitchen blender will work just fine. However, a produce-dense shake may end up a little chunkier, more like a “chewie” than a smoothie. While that might not be ideal for Instagram, it’s great for your digestive system! Chewing stimulates a cascade of digestive processes, such as the secretion of digestive enzymes and bicarbonate into the lumen of the small intestines.

1. Go easy on the blending. For best texture, blend fruits, vegetables, ice, or other add-ins, with the liquid first. Then, add the powder and briefly blend again for no more than 20-30 seconds.
2. Don’t delay. For the freshest taste and texture, enjoy drinks made with preservative-free powders within 20 minutes of preparation.

What’s your favorite shake combination? Share a picture or description!

About Maribeth EvezichMaribeth Evezich, MS, RD is a functional nutrition and therapeutic lifestyle consultant. Maribeth is also a graduate of Bastyr University and the Natural Gourmet Institute. Whether she is in her kitchen experimenting, at her computer researching, or behind the lens of her camera, she is on a mission to inspire others to love whole foods. as much as she does. She lives in Seattle and is the founder of Lifestyle Medicine Consulting, LLC and the culinary nutrition blog, Whole Foods Explorer. Maribeth Evezich is a paid consultant and guest writer for Metagenics.

The holidays involve taking time off work, travelling to see family, and picking out thoughtful gifts. For many, the final months of the year also require careful planning to stay in shape. According to a number of studies, including research from The New England Journal of Medicine, the average person gains one to two pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.1
Fortunately, awareness and creativity will help you keep the momentum going on your fitness regimen. Consider the following workout tips to stay in shape over the holidays.
1: Make the airport your personal gym.Occupy your time at the airport by taking a long walk through the terminal. Use your phone to keep track of your steps—the ground you can cover may surprise you!
Engaging in light activity even for five minutes helps to increase your blood flow and heart rate, so make use of long wait times at the airport by pacing around at the gate. You can log thousands of steps before you board your plane. Celebrate the holidays in style by keeping active amid the chaos of air travel.
2: Stretch in your seat on the plane or in the car.Research reveals that you burn up to 30% more calories standing up than when you’re seated.2 If you’ve booked a long flight for the holidays, you probably know that getting up to stretch your legs isn’t always feasible. (The same goes for driving. While you should plan to stop at a gas station and get your blood flowing every few hours, extenuating circumstances—say, an impending December blizzard—might make this difficult.)
However, you can still stretch during transit. Does this sound counter intuitive? It’s actually quite simple. If you are seated in a small space, there are plenty of ways you can work your muscles. Consider the following exercises:

• Start in an upright position and then push your back into your seat and engage your core. Make a conscious effort to flex your abdominals.
• Gently roll your wrists and ankles. Do this in both directions for optimal results.
• Place a book between your knees and squeeze your thighs to work your legs, core, and hip abductors.
• Ball your hands into fists, place them on both armrests, and lift yourself gently out of your seat. This is a fantastic exercise for lengthy car and plane rides—as long as you’re not the one behind the wheel.

3: Challenge yourself to park far away at the mall.Are you planning to purchase holiday gifts at your local shopping center? Walking around the mall is a fantastic winter workout, and you can get started as soon as you pull into the parking lot. Rather than circling around in search of a spot near the entrance, deliberately seek a parking space at the back of the lot.
Go into this knowing that parking far is your choice. Those extra steps will add up, and the fresh air will do you good. Another benefit of parking far from the entrance is that you will no longer need to stress about snagging the perfect space.
4: Take advantage of slow times at the office.If your workload is lighter during the holidays, enjoy your downtime at the office. Step outside every few hours to stretch your legs and recharge. Go for a long walk during your lunch break. You could even encourage your colleagues to bundle up and join you for a walking meeting. This time of year is ideal for building healthy habits on the job.
5: Register for a holiday race.From Turkey Trots to Reindeer Runs, there is no shortage of 5 km and 10 km races around the holidays. Take your workout routine to the next level by registering for your local Jingle Bell Jog. There’s no need to fret if you’re not in running shape—many people sign up for these events with the aim of simply getting in the holiday spirit, and they still manage to break a sweat by walking the course.
These tips will help you maintain a workout routine during the holidays. In addition to working out regularly, make sure to relax and get enough sleep during this busy time of year.
References:

1. Jack A. Yanovski, M.D., Ph.D., Susan Z. Yanovski, M.D., Kara N. Sovik, B.S., Tuc T. Nguyen, M.S., Patrick M. O’Neil, Ph.D., and Nancy G. Sebring, M.Ed., R.D. N Engl J Med 23 March 2000; 342:861-867 DOI: 10.1056/NEJM200003233421206.
2. Julie Corliss, “Too much sitting linked to heart disease, diabetes, premature death,” Harvard Health Blog, 22 January 2015, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/much-sitting-linked-heart-disease-diabetes-premature-death-201501227618