For Ideal Performance State (IPS) or In the Zone Training. Call +65 94312135

emWave Personal Stress Reliever

MInd Training for TaiChi. Call +65 94312135 or email to tsenyu1@singnet.com.sg

TAI CHI SYNERGY SERVICES

Basic Postural Education and Treatment. Call +65 94312135

The self-treatment will mobilise the stiff and often immobile thoracic spine and lower back, alleviate headaches, aches and pains and ultimately improve performance. The process involved postural assessment in 3 planes (saggital, frontal and transverse) and techniques (3 ilterations) of treatment; these may involve some corrective exercises and soft tissue work.

The rack can be purchased and is specifically designed to achieve mobility (Refer to http://taichihealthfitness.blogspot.com/ for the full descriptions and purchases).

■ It allows you to stretch the anterior muscles of the chest and shoulders that are deemed short and often inflexible due to poor posture.

■ It mobilises the thoracic spine, increasing your ability to extend and rotate through this important area.

■ Mobilising the thoracic region helps increase the available movement in the shoulder and pelvic region, allowing us to move more freely and efficiently.

■ Serves as treatment equipment and later as fitness equipment during the maintenance phasse. Enhance quality of life over life cycle

Many good results and testimontials have been received from Sedentary adults, Yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi practioners / instructors, cyclists, runners, swimmers, golfers, tennis players, badminton players, dancers, scoliosis clients, clients with low back pain / hand numbness / nerves impingement etc.

Tai Chi Mass Workout Event (15 May 2010) Planning Document - Sample

Provides You With Physical Activity Tips and Recommendations.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Exercise Induced Changes To Brain

Aurther: Jeffrey Kleim, PHD (IDEA Fitness Journal, Volume 8, Number 3; March 2011)


Exercise improves our physical and mental health—that is now beyond debate. The physical benefits are obvious; we know that exercise lowers blood pressure, decreases cholesterol, reduces fat, adds muscle and improves cardiovascular function. But how is it that exercise also reduces stress, anxiety and depression and allows us to maintain focus at work and to think clearly?


You might easily assume that improved physical health drives improved mental health; that a healthy body breeds a healthy mind. But the truth is, we know much more about how exercise affects the body than how it affects the mind. That brings us to the issue of measuring the mind and to the proverbial “mind-body problem”: Is the mind separate from the body? It is a question that has tormented philosophers since René Descartes suggested nearly 400 years ago that mind and body were clearly separate but the brain (the pineal gland to be precise) was the place where mind interacted with body. This Wizard of Oz sort of view suggests that a peek behind the neurobiological curtain will unveil some ethereal forces pulling levers.

Regardless of your view on the issue, accept for the time being that our cognitive, perceptual and emotional faculties—indeed, our sense of self—are all nestled within the 100 billion or so neurons (nerve cells) that make up the brain. So if exercise can have lasting effects on the mind, then exercise must also affect the brain. As it turns out, the brain is incredibly dynamic. It is not hard-wired, as we once believed, and it responds to exercise in much the same way that heart, lungs and muscles do. The brain can change its structure and function by adding new neurons, making new connections between neurons (synapses) and even creating brand-new blood vessels, all in response to different forms of exercise (see Figure 1).

A Powerful Healing Agent for Change

Over the last two decades, neuroscientists have begun to reveal how physical activity—whether it be endurance, strength or skill training—can change the neurochemistry, structure and function of the brain. We are starting to understand how these changes in brain biology affect our cognitive, sensory, motor and emotional behaviors. We are also discovering that the neurobiological imprint of exercise can help treat and possibly even prevent a number of psychiatric disorders (such as depression and anxiety) in addition to neurological disorders (such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease).

Exercise Improves Cognitive Function

Although the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends at least 30 minutes of moderately intense aerobic exercise 5 days per week (ACSM & AHA 2007), alarmingly it is estimated that 74% of all Americans fail to meet this requirement, and the lack of activity represents a major contributor to rising healthcare costs. Aside from the obvious effects on physical health, there is mounting evidence that a sedentary lifestyle also affects the brain—and in turn lessens mental capacity. Sibley and Etnier (2003) found a clear connection between how much schoolchildren exercised and their cognitive performance: the more aerobic exercise the children engaged in, the better they performed on verbal, perceptual and mathematical tests. The same pattern of results was found in older adults: aerobic training improved cognitive performance (Colcombe & Kramer 2003), and active lifestyles decreased age-related risks for cognitive impairment and dementia (Yaffe et al. 2009). Not surprisingly, these cognitive effects were accompanied by clear changes in brain structure and function.

Exercise Changes Brain Function

The fact that exercise enhances cognition suggests it must have some effects on the brain that outlast the exercise experience itself. That is, exercise must somehow change brain function in a lasting manner. Indeed, research supports this hypothesis; the reduced cognitive capacity in sedentary individuals is also associated with different patterns of brain activity—both at rest and while performing mentally challenging tasks—than those observed in active subjects.

Although a number of brain areas are involved in the complex cognitive tasks that we engage in on a daily basis, the cerebral cortex is a major player. Compared with sedentary people, active individuals show greater baseline levels of cortical activity (Dustman et al. 1990) and more activity in various brain regions when performing cognitive tests (Polich & Lardon 1997). Some cortical areas show increases in activity when we are struggling with a particular task. One such area that is especially sensitive in this regard is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Part of the brain’s limbic system, the ACC has connections with numerous brain areas involved in processing sensory, motor, emotional and cognitive information. This brain area becomes very active during moments of indecision or confusion when we are posed with a problem. After a 6-month walking intervention, people showed decreased ACC activity relative to nonaerobic toning or stretching groups (Colcombe et al. 2004), the implication being that less activity in the ACC contributes to the enhanced cognitive function resulting from exercise.

Exercise-related changes in brain function are not limited to areas of the cortex concerned with cognitive function. Brain areas that are engaged during movement are also affected. One key cortical area is the motor cortex. This strip of tissue contains neurons that send information down to the spinal cord to cause muscle contraction. Individuals engaged in regular exercise show reductions in the amount of activity within the motor cortex when performing simple movements (Voelcker-Rehage, Godde & Staudinger 2010). While this might seem counterintuitive, one interpretation is that the cortex is more efficient at controlling movement and therefore requires less effort to produce movement.

Exercise Changes Brain Structures

Although the structure of the brain is highly complex, it can be broken down into two general components. Gray matter contains all of the neurons and supporting cells, while white matter consists of the axons of these neurons (nerve cell fibers) that carry signals from one area to another. One might compare this to the way in which most large cities are organized, with houses and buildings connected by streets and freeways.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows for the measurement of gray and white matter and can reveal something about the way that exercise influences the overall structure of the brain. MRI scans have shown that exercise boosts overall brain volume (Colcombe et al. 2006), increasing both gray matter (Colcombe et al. 2006) and white matter (Gordon et al. 2008). Interestingly, these changes can occur over relatively short periods of time with what might seem like minimal amounts of training. After learning to juggle for only a few weeks, for example, study subjects showed increases in gray matter within regions of the brain concerned with integrating visual and motor information (Draganski et al. 2004).

In Conclusion

Our knowledge of the effects of exercise on the body and mind continues to expand. The development of new technologies is indeed allowing us to “peek behind the cerebral curtain” to see which levers are being pulled—to understand the biology of how exercise improves both body and mind. This knowledge will allow us to harness the brain’s endogenous capacity to adapt to experience and will guide the development of new therapies to treat the damaged or diseased brain as well as to improve our general quality of life. This has become increasingly important as our population ages and the stressors of this fast-paced world mount.

Neurons are arguably the most high-maintenance cells in the body. They require a constant supply of glucose and oxygen or they begin to die. The brain represents 3% of total body weight (Love & Webb 1992) but uses 20% of total blood supply and 25% of total oxygen supply. Neurons are constantly being bombarded by hundreds of neurochemicals, and the DNA must work incredibly hard to keep up with making all of the necessary proteins to maintain function.


There is one family of neurochemicals known as growth factors. So named because they can make neurons “grow,” these neurochemicals have been clearly shown to increase in the brain in both number and size during exercise (van Praag, Kempermann & Gage 1999). Think of growth factors as “fertilizer” for the brain. They act to keep neurons healthy and reduce their susceptibility to cell death, which may account for why exercise appears to combat the onset of many neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (Xu et al. 2010) and Alzheimer’s disease (Scarmeas et al. 2010).

One of the more exciting discoveries in neuroscience in the last 20 years has been that the adult brain can continue to make new neurons throughout the lifespan. It doesn’t happen equally in all brain areas, for reasons that are not totally understood, but it happens readily in one specific area: the hippocampus. This is an evolutionarily older part of the brain that is concerned with forming memories and processing emotion, which may help explain some of the cognitive and emotional benefits of exercise.

Interestingly, aerobic exercise can increase neurogenesis (generation of new neurons) within the hippocampus at many stages of development, including in the neonatal (Kim et al. 2007), juvenile (Lou et al. 2008) and adult brains (van Praag, Kempermann & Gage 1999). The fact that the hippocampus is a critical brain structure used in memory may explain why aerobic exercise can enhance learning (Vaynman & Gomez-Pinilla 2006). Furthermore, we know that stress reduces neurogenesis, an effect that may contribute to depression and anxiety (Lucassen et al. 2010). Therefore, the enhanced neurogenesis brought about by exercise may represent the neurobiological mechanism by which regular exercise reduces depression.

ACSM & AHA (American College of Sports Medicine & American Heart Association). 2007. Physical activity and public health guidelines. www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home_Page&TEMPLATE=CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=7764#Under_65; retrieved Jan. 7, 2011.


References

Colcombe, S., & Kramer, A. F. 2003. Fitness effects on the cognitive function of older adults: A meta-analytic study. Psychological Science, 14 (2), 125–30.

Colcombe, S.J., et al. 2004. Cardiovascular fitness, cortical plasticity, and aging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101 (9), 3316–21.

Colcombe, S.J., et al. 2006. Aerobic exercise training increases brain volume in aging humans. Journal of Gerontology, Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 61 (11), 1166–70.

Draganski, B., et al. 2004. Neuroplasticity: Changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature, 427, 311–12.

Dustman, R.E., et al. 1990. Age and fitness effects on EEG, ERPs, visual sensitivity, and cognition. Neurobiology of Aging, 11 (3), 193–200.

Gordon, B.A., et al. 2008. Neuroanatomical correlates of aging, cardiopulmonary fitness level, and education. Psychophysiology, 45 (5), 825–38.

Kim, H., et al. 2007. The influence of maternal treadmill running during pregnancy on short-term memory and hippocampal cell survival in rat pups. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 25 (4), 243–49.

Lou, S.J., et al. 2008. Hippocampal neurogenesis and gene expression depend on exercise intensity in juvenile rats. Brain Research, 1210, 48–55.

Love, R., & Webb, W. 1992. Neurology for the Speech-Language Pathologist. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Lucassen, P.J., et al. 2010. Regulation of adult neurogenesis by stress, sleep disruption, exercise and inflammation: Implications for depression and antidepressant action. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 20 (1), 1–17.

Polich, J., & Lardon, M.T. 1997. P300 and long-term physical exercise. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 103 (4), 493–98.

Scarmeas, N., et al. 2010. Physical activity and Alzheimer disease course. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry; doi:10.1097/JGP.0601381eb00a9.

Sibley, B.A. & Etnier, J.L. 2003. The relationship between physical activity and cognition in children: A meta-analysis. Pediatric Exercise Science, 15 (3), 243–56.

Van Praag, H., Kempermann, G., & Gage, F.H. 1999. Running increases cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the adult mouse dentate gyrus. Nature Neuroscience, 2 (3), 266–70.

Vaynman, S., & Gomez-Pinilla, F. 2006. Revenge of the “sit”: How lifestyle impacts neuronal and cognitive health through molecular systems that interface energy metabolism with neuronal plasticity. Journal of Neuroscience Research, 84 (4), 699–715.

Voelcker-Rehage, C., Godde, B., & Staudinger, U.M. 2010. Physical and motor fitness are both related to cognition in old age. European Journal of Neuroscience, 31 (1), 167–76.

Xu, Q., et al. 2010. Physical activities and future risk of Parkinson disease. Neurology, 75 (4), 341–48.

Yaffe, K., et al. 2009. Predictors of maintaining cognitive function in older adults: The Health ABC study. Neurology, 72 (23), 2029–35.

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My Core Services (Call SE Tan at 9431-2135 OR email: tsenyu1@singnet.com.sg)

My Core Services (Call SE Tan at 9431-2135 OR email: tsenyu1@singnet.com.sg)

Client Testimonials

"My knees and lower extremities feel better now during my Tai Chi practice. Thank you for your postural assessment, corrective exercise therapy prescriptions and methodologies used in Tai Chi movements." - after one consultation on Sunday morning

Joan, Tai Chi student from Yio Chu Kang CC



"Hi Maureen, Enyu,
Thank you for taking time to prepare and share your knowledge at our training clinic on Sunday. Nice to have you around to share on your expertise. I think I speak for all attendees to say that we all brought back muck insight to our walking techniques.

FYI and already confirmed, we will also load the pictures into LTAW's website "

Ng Yousi - Let's Take A Walk 2009 - Chairperson
Weizhen Chen - Let's Take A Walk 2009 Committee



"I learnt loads and enjoyed Sat's session!" Thank you very much Coach Tan :)" - Tapering Training

" The whole team (Maureen, GG, Coach Tan and Jon) worked well with each other strengths, which I truly respect. Based on the tentative resulta, EneRgyworkz team was accompanied by other teams with similar timings. More importantly, the distance was finished and not with terrible injuries"

Diane, Shariff, GiaYee - EneRgyWorkz Marathoners NorthFace100 2009



"I am doing the exercise prescriptions every daily and really I am feeling better. Thank you very much with you around, I will be well"

Ang KH, Polytechnic Lecturer - walking deficiencies, cannot squat, diabetes and high blood pressure (under medication)



" Wishing you a Happy Teacher's Day (1st Sep). Thank you for your patience in helping your student auntie to heal. I managed to knee at church on Sunday. I am so happy that my legs does not hurt already. I will always remember you as my World Best Teacher :-) Thank you. "

Elise Nge, Business Executive



"I have followed the training methods you taught me on stretching and postural techniques; and now when I do my Tai Chi, my knee pain has disappeared. Truly appreciate and thank you so much for teaching me the scientifc ways of practising Tai Chi"

Bay MK, Product Promoter



" Thank you for treatment to solve my heel pain problem(plantar facsiitis). It really hurt me alot before I met up with you. You have trained me on the correct posture and your coaching is easily understood. Thank you"

Kelvin Koh, Pharmaceutical Manager



" Your treatments using T-Rack and corrective exercise therapy prescriptions allow me to correct my conditions and my pain has reduced tremendously. I can now do my self treatment at home and thank you for spending your valuable time"

Zubai, Business woman (Client with scoliosis)



"Dear Therapists of Let's Take a Walk 2008

8 months of planning, 13 committee members, 33 hours of event, close to 100 volunteers, over 900 participants and more than $60,000 raised. These are some numbers from Let's Take A Walk 2008 successfully held over the last weekend.

Thank you. Thank you to all of you who have sacrifice your time to help us over the weekend. Your contribution and professionalism has contributed to the success of our event."

Chan Peng, On behalf of Organising Committee 2008

Click here to download the full Your Prescription for Health flier series, or choose a flier below

Exercise is Medicine

Information and recommendations for exercising safely with a variety of health conditions.

Exercising and Alzheimer's

Exercising with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Exercising with Anemia

Exercising with an Aneurysm

Exercising with Angina

Exercising with Anxiety and Depression

Exercising with Arthritis

Exercising with Asthma

Exercising with Atrial Fibrillation

Exercising Following a Brain Injury

Exercising with Cancer

Exercising Following Cardiac Transplant

Exercising with Cerebral Palsy

Exercising with Chronic Heart Failure

Exercising with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Exercising with Chronic Restrictive Pulmonary Disease

Exercising Following Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

Exercising with Cystic Fibrosis

Exercising with End-Stage Metabolic Disease

Exercising with Epilepsy

Exercising with Frailty

Exercising with Hearing Loss

Exercising Following a Heart Attack

Exercising with Hyperlipidemia

Exercising with Hypertension

Exercising while Losing Weight

Exercising with Lower Back Pain

Exercising Following Lung or Heart-Lung Transplantation

Exercising with Mental Retardation

Exercising with Multiple Sclerosis

Exercising with Muscular Dystrophy

Exercising with Osteoporosis

Exercising with a Pacemaker or Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator

Exercising with Parkinson's Disease

Exercising with Peripheral Arterial Disease

Exercising with Polio or Post-Polio Syndrome

Exercising Following a Stroke

Exercising with Type 2 Diabetes

Exercising with Valvular Heart Disease

Exercising with Visual Impairment

Low Back Pain - Understanding

Osteoporosis

ABC Diabetes

Why We Need to Retool "Use It Or Lose It": Healthy Brain Aging

Arthritis

Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center

TaiChi Routines and Circuit Training Depot (road near the rail track is now accessible)


View Taichi Depots and Training Routes in a larger map
Incorporating all the health and fitness components (Oct '08 articles) into exercise programs may not be easy for busy working adults, executives, businessmen and women when time is hard to optmise. The amount of time spend on exercises whether it is physical preparation and conditioning or routine practices must be effective and meeting the health and fitness requirements.

This requires a proper exercise prescriptions (daily and weekly) for individuals and appropriate circuit design (including bad weather) using existing natural environment (depending on individual preferences, preferably mixture of indoor and outdoor) around us to keep us healthy and fit. Time must be well-spend.

For example: some of my clients are doing warming up and stretching at home, their Taichi aerobic activties are done using the outdoor circuit and cooling down with Taichi routines followed by stretching near thereby their house. The re-hydration with fuild is done at home during rest followed by his bath. They have multiple version of programs (changing the variables of the components and types) for variety.


If you are interested, call +65 94312135 or email to tsenyu1@singnet.com.sg

TaiChi Jogging For Neuromuscular Body Alignment (11km)


View TaiChi Jogging Route (11km) in a larger map

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Trekking

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Trekking
Refer to dotted "Red" route. Email to tsenyu1@singnet.com.sg if you want to be informed and to participate of this event. It takes less than 2 hours for complete circuit. Timing varies and depending on the fitness and size of the group. Learning and understand proper human walking mechanics and the need of conditioning for Activities of Daily Living (ADL)

MacRitchie Trails

MacRitchie Trails
Follow the "Yellow" route and through the hanging bridge (about 13km)

Hiking Route from Yew Tee to Bukit Timah Hill & MacRitchie Trails

Hiking Routes in the Natural Reserve:

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
--------------------------------
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~tsenyu1/Bukit_Timah_Hiking_Route_(From_Yew_Tee).jpg

MacRitchie hiking trails
---------------------------
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~tsenyu1/MacRitchie_Hiking_Trails_(From_Bukit_Timah_Nature_Reserve).jpg

If you are interested, call +65 94312135 or email to tsenyu1@singnet.com.sg

21km Route (Half Marathon)


View 21km Route (Half Marathon) in a larger map

LTAW - 50km Power Walk


View LTAW 2009 50Km PowerWalk in a larger map

LTAW 50 - 100km Extreme Walk


View LTAW 2009 50-100Km ExtremeWalk in a larger map

太極拳概述

太極拳概述 little monkey

太極拳 - 武當絕學,繁體字,二十五頁的太極拳綱要

Wraecca

TAI CHI 42 Quan

Tai Chi Quan Simplified 24 Forms Steps Movement

Challenges Inherent to T'Ai Chi Research- Part I

Challenges Inherent to T'Ai Chi Research - Part II