HIIT workouts... yay or nay?

Today I read a very interesting article about HIIT workouts and the positives and negatives from doing so.

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training which is a form of cardiovascular exercise alternating between short periods of intense cardio workout with short recovery periods in between in order to quickly raise and lower your heart rate in order to improve athletic stamina but also improve your metabolism. This type of training has been massively influenced by Joe Wicks, the writer of lena in 15 who promotes HIIT workouts as a means of staying lean and becoming fitter.

However today I read an article in November's issue of Women's Health magazine stating that despite all the good HIIT workouts are doing for your BMI that it could be hindering your joints. As stated in the article "Southampton General Hospital links this fast-paced fitness favourite to joint damage in the under thirties" :Women's Health November 2016; Claire Fox.

Obviously the idea of HIIT workouts are short and sharp bursts of cardiovascular exercise however working as hard as you do in these workouts can cause you to fatigue and when done so can ultimately affect your technique and 'lose your form' which ultimately can lead to injuries.

Personally, I am a fan of interval training particularly on the tread mill. I am asthmatic and running for a long period of time can sometimes be the hardest thing in the world, especially if i am run down with a cold. When I am running I tend to walk for a minute on a speed such as 6.0 KPH and then sprint for a minute on 14KPH (I was always a sprinter at school compared to long distance running). This form of training for me allows me to run for longer but also feel like I have achieved something by running for longer than I ever have and consequently in May this year I completed a 10KM Great Manchester Run for the Christie Charity for the first time ever. this wouldn't have been achieved without my commitment to maintaining runs in this way and building up my stamina to not stop running but keep going if not sprinting... by walking quickly.

I am going to research further on this topic, see if others are finding themselves being injured by this form of workout or whether it is miracle worker?

I really would appreciate your comments on this? do you enjoy HIIT workouts? Does it work for you? Is it a YAY or a NAY?

4D: Literature. Part 1.

1. Food Literature: Blogger: Deliciously Ella. 

Deliciously Ella started her blog 4 years ago and has since released 3 cook/ health books and also has another book on the way in January.

In her first cook book, it begins with her story, something which I found incredible interesting. In her words she was a "sugar monster" and also "nutrition was low on her priority list". However in 2011, she was diagnosed with a rare illness caked Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS which areas down your autonomic nervous system, the system thats controls your digestions, circulation, immune system and heartbeat. This caused her extreme amounts of paint and lack lustre of energy sleeping for over 16 hours a day shutting her off from the life that she previously knew and she wasn't going to follow in despair over this.

After doing her own research she discovered a woman called Kris Carr who had written a book about her diet in order to manage her cancer she was suffering from. This changed Ella's thought process and immediately she thought she would do the same in order to try and help her health condition and started a whole foods, plant-based diet and gave up all meat, dairy, sugar, gluten and anything processed including chemicals and additives. To make such a drastic decision in ones life as such as this is obviously life changing along with the health condition she was already suffering from but this turned out to be the best thing for her.

Changing her diet allowed her to slowly make her way off her medication all together and also help encourage her to have her own blog "Deliciously Ella" as stated earlier has now celebrated its fourth birthday, she has released 3 cook books with food recipes, juices and smoothies of all of the recipes she has created to make this form of diet a tasty and healthy way to live. She has also opened 2 deli's called The Mae Deli, one resides in Seymour Place, Marble Arch and the new Deli is to open this week.

I think she is beyond one of the most inspiring people to admire in today's society. Going from a point of being at the lowest of the low in her way of health and life and now being an incredibly successful business woman who has turned her life around making her illness that was out of her control completely in her control and becoming an incredible success from it.

No my health issues are no way as extreme as what Ella suffered however her taking a leap of faith into changing her diet was the best decision she had made and I hope the same will apply to me on my journey. I do not intend on giving up meat however I am going to do my best to cut out anything processed out of my die and maintain a strong healthy diet hopefully following Ella's recipes in the process and see how this impacts my life. Furthermore I am also going to keep a food diary to monitor how I made what I made and how it made me feel and see if I do notice a difference in my health.

Further progress on my health journey....

Researching further into my food, diet, health project. I have recently been in touch with food and health bloggers to ask them reasons behind why they took such drastic measures into new lifestyle choices, be it out of choice or for health reasons and how this has affected their lives. I am still waiting for collected information back but this weekend I have decided to take my research a step further starting a food diary for everything I eat and drink; in the past week I have been hit by another health niggle.. yet another kidney infection. I know you guys must've getting bored about hearing about my moans and groans of ailments in my life. However when you do get ill these things can't be helped. Now its focus onto me me me. This degree is very important to me in times to open up new opportunities for me and hopefully if I can attempt to improve my health at the same time. 

Task 4a, Profession Inquiry Questions! please comment.

As discussed in previous blog I would like to develop my enquiry into health and how the effects of health can affect a person's career particularly that in the arts. From my previous post Lizzie had commented on how she would like to base her enquiry around the topic of mental health which I would like to discuss as a sub topic in my enquiry. But I am now brainstorming questions that I would like to discuss further into helping me with my research. 

Food? How seriously do people take food and their dietary requirements in the performing arts industry to consequently help maintain or increase health benefits? 

This question I believe will create different answers in terms of male and female but further more also dietary requirements. In terms of our NHS today and ways to discover all different types of allergies and dietary requirements every person will vary differently from dairy to vegetarians, vegan's, nut allergy's and how all of these combined ways of looking after oneself but also how food can help or hinder ones health and the benefits consequently on their career. I am a foodie and always will be i love all food except my one true hate in MUSHROOMS they are horrendous! the taste the smell the texture everything. But in my food love side of life my guilty pleasures are reading food blogs and buying cook books and watching cookery programmes. My cooking at the moment is greatly inspired but he recipe's of Deliciously Ella herself Ella Mills, Madeline Shaw and Clean Eating Alice. All who offer a great variety in ingredients and different types of recipes but all that are healthy and promote healthy eating. I know sometimes my eating habits are atrocious for example.. in the past week I have eaten 2 microwave meals. This in turn shocks me as I love to cook and I really try my hardest to be as healthy as possible... despite the occasional pack of custard creams i consume in one sitting with a couple of cups of coffee or that a bag of twirl bites whilst sat in on movie night. But despite the occasional blip my diet is 80% incredibly healthy. In my explores around food and how people eat and what they eat I am going to ask how food affects them in their life and if they are happy with how they eat now or would they change their eating habits if they wanted too. 

Next.... issues in health beyond our control. 

How do you go about your daily life controlling a condition which during the development has been completely out of your control but make sure that this does not hinder your working/ professional life? 

Since a very early age I have suffered from asthma and hay fever to which I will discuss a lot further in my enquires. Asthma in my days at performing arts college massively limited my dancing abilities. Having asthma and respiratory problems does not mean that you are unfit or are not strong enough to complete any cardio however it does make it a lot harder. Hay fever one may say isn't a health problem of too much concern but as a singer it does affect me. During the summer months continually having cold like symptoms and further more the affects of hay fever tablets can sometimes make your throat feel very dehydrated resulting in feeling very uncomfortable when singing. Because these are my issues I really want to dig deep into research and see how I can physically go about my every day life to help impact my career and not let this affect me. 

Further to asthma and hay fever I also have an auto immune disease called vitiligo. Vitiligo affects your immune system and in my family we have had our fair share of blood disorders and abnormalities which has resulting me to genetically having a very low immune system. When I get poorly i do feel it worse than others subconsciously and when my immune system fights back this then attacks the melanin in my skin and completely takes the colour away leaving pigmentation scars. This disease first started to affect me at 10 years old and growing up through my teenage years and early twenties it never really gets easier. Especially when people ask questions it really can affect one's self esteem and confidence. 

Again in my enquiry I would like to discuss this further and explore the benefits and consequences of this disease but I would also like to get information form other sources from other people who maybe born with hereditary diseases like mine and how they face and conquer their career and work to deal with their health issue and be better from it. 

Injury? something every performer will face at a point in their career? how do we recover? 

In my days at performing arts college it is rare to go to a class and someone not be sat out or be restricted to dance abilities due to injury as they are recovering which for dancers is massively frustrating but injury can also affect singers. Nodules, muscle injuries and how they affect breathing and posture. 

I would like to agin a point of view specifically from an actor a singer and a dancer on this question and see how injury has specifically affected them and the recovery it took to get them back to where they are today. 

Throughout the more blogs and articles I read more questions will follow this to take my practice enquiry further but first i would love to gain feedback on your thoughts to these questions and how they affect you or if they do affect you how? 

Module 2 .. Take 2.

"Inquiring involves intent, a sense of purpose." Marshall, 2001 (p6)

A purpose, the quality of having a definite purpose, value or significant. Something which I have grown to look at quite thoroughly over the past few months. 

I started module 2 back in February but unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances I deferred my module and I am now starting again. Back in February I was very poorly suffering with a lung infection hindering my every day life and resulting in me taking time off work. In further recent months I have also seen a decline in my health. Things that maybe could of been presented and others which are hereditary, which are out of my control and it has made me think. Some situations in life are copley out of our own control but in order to get through we need to have the ability to take control over these situations and make it the better. 

When I started module 2 the last time I had a very different perspective on what I would like to follow as my professional inquiry but this time I have a new train of thought, one I feel relevant to me and to the others and I would like to explore health. How it can hinder ones professional practice and how it can also help and heal. 

I am going to come up with a series of questions regarding this train of thought and see how I could incorporate this into a professional practice inquiry for me to take further but also learn from and hopefully in the end help me have a new focus on health from it. 

PLEASE TAKE PART IN MY SURVEY

I have now created an online survey in order to collect some data for my professional inquiry idea i am working with at the moment and would appreciate it if anyone who sees this post would mind taking part.
Many Thanks
Tory

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GRZ9V5S

Task 4 A: Initial Inquiry Questions

Thinking about my professional inquiry and ideas behind it I am considering employment in the musical theatre industry and what is deemed as successful and unsuccessful. 

The Musical Theatre industry is one heavily reliant on reflection not only from yourself but your tutors, peers and friends. Crictically evaluating one’s technique and performance be it in singing dancing and acting helps us as performers improve everyday. And however important feedback such as this is, I always have a hindering that it is also judgmental. 

Anyone can be in the musical theatre industry but is it right to judge them on where they studied? if they graduated? before even considering talent?

Other questions that came to my head were about employment in general. To maintain my life in London alongside this degree, alongside auditions I have a full time job. To stay in London and continue to pursue my career as a performer I have no other option of affording to say in this wonderful city than work incredibly hard to pay my way. 

People may see me as unsuccessful because I’m not working in the industry at the moment. However, in my full time job I have gained life skills that will impact my further career such as knowing how to deal with accounts and banking, also gaining further development in IT skills which have improved my confidence in techniques such as my blogging but further programmes on Microsoft, Windows and Mac programmes.

Am I deemed unsuccessful to be maintaining a normal job on the side of pursuing my aspirations in life? or alternatively am I a success, achieving more than I ever thought I was capable of (particularly in the form of time management and multi-tasking skills. 

But I would further like to further discuss the ultimate word everyone hates, REJECTION. 

How does rejection reflect on you in the musical theatre industry? how many times can one get knocked down and carry on? What helps you pick yourself back up and carry on and head to the next audition remaining positive. Is the love of what we do enough to keep us going?

The handbook suggests we look back to further work we did in previous modules to also come up with relevant questions and one question I would love to know the answer to and explore further is, Inspirations and Aspirations.

How did you know this industry was one that you wanted to work in? what Inspired you to get to where you are today?

I know for myself my family were a massive factor in inspiring me to get to where I am today. I have come from a very musical family but more instrumental than performing, my grandmother being my Piano teacher and my father also being a Pianist and a Violinist additionally to being in various bands and also being a Musical Director to his own Performing Academy. From learning Piano and Flute from a very young age I naturally fell into singing from my appreciation of all aspects of music from an early age, appreciating everything from Classical repertoire - Musical Theatre and pop. I think back most days about how grateful I am for my early life and how much I learnt so young about Music. If I hadn’t of achieved all I had before the age of 12 I know I wouldn’t of had as many opportunity to expand in Music as I have had. Attending the Royal Northern College of Music from 14 further developing me in my Classical Music but further into Musical Theatre which in turn led me to attending Italia Conti. Without my family and there own inspirations and love of music. I wouldn’t be where I am today. 

Coming up with these questions I know leaves me still with a very broad topic of subject for my professional Inquiry. To narrow down ideas of questions I really want to discuss further I am going to come along with an online survey to share with as many people in the musical theatre industry as possible to try and collect as much data as possible to aid me further in the development of my professional Inquiry. 

Starting my thoughts on professional inquiry...

So today I had a lovely talk with Paula about my professional inquiry.. I'm a little late off the starting block... however I've been having a good think about idea's.

After a good few hours of brainstorming I'm now going to start researching theories and practitioners and concepts surrounding my ideas and see where my searches take and lead me towards a professional inquiry to take further and complete module 2!

Time to Start Module 2...

So,
this blog has been a long time coming.
Unfortunately my new year didn't get off to the best starts having a particularly nasty illness the past three weeks. However, now fighting fit and ready to get caught up and back onto the course.
Tonights plans have been reading through my module 2 handbook and all of the readers and initially creating ideas for my inquiry.
Going to be a lot of brainstorming over the next few days and a blog to follow to hopefully get some suggestions and advice from my peers.
So ready for a new term!
Speak soon
Tory