Aimée Barnes Biokineticists

21/08/2025

Your workout is not just building muscle, it is reprogramming your entire body at the cellular level. Groundbreaking research from Stanford Medicine and the MoTrPAC consortium has revealed that physical activity triggers molecular and cellular changes across 19 different organs, not just the muscles you are targeting.

In the brain, exercise boosts stress resilience and improves neural communication. The heart develops greater cardiovascular efficiency, while the lungs enhance oxygen processing. The liver becomes more effective at burning fat and lowering inflammation, and the kidneys improve filtration and detox capabilities. Even skeletal muscles do more than get stronger, they release powerful biochemical signals that communicate with other organs.

The most fascinating finding is that exercise rewires how organs “talk” to each other, creating a whole-body communication network that regulates immunity, inflammation, and disease prevention. This helps explain why consistent physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease, fatty liver, cognitive decline, and countless other health conditions.

This is the largest NIH-funded study ever conducted on how exercise improves health, with huge implications for personalised medicine and future exercise prescriptions. The takeaway is simple yet powerful: every workout is a full-body molecular upgrade that strengthens your biological operating system from the inside out.

14/07/2025

Finally!

I'm practicing what I preach. My STANDING DESK is in sitchu, in my office. 🪴
I get asked frequently about standing desks and I highly encourage them but there is some nuance and context that I think is IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND. 💡

People often ask if it is "better" to either sit or stand, and the answer is yes and yes ✅✅😂
Our bodies are designed to MOVE. 💪 There isn't a single organ system that doesn't benefit from you moving about. From your brain to your gut, from your hormones to your to bones. So really, what we're aiming to do is prevent STILLNESS, STAGNATION and STUCKNESS.
Changing positions, from standing to seated is useful for that. Your body will appreciate the change in position as much as it will appreciate the position itself. 🪑🧍🏿

STANDING IS COOL. 😎 Standing in an extended position is useful to prevent all the shortening of the tissues we get from SLOUCHING when seated. But, we also benefit from the IMPROVED ERGONOMICS that the desk provides. It elevates your screen for when you are seated, meaning we are less likely to slouch in the first place. 🤙

An IMPORTANT CAVEAT is that standing still for long periods of time is something that causes CIRCULATION PROBLEMS in our legs and feet. When transitioning into using a standing desk YOU CAN HELP YOURSELF BY:
👣 - standing on a slightly padded surface, like a yoga mat, or thick carpet.
⏱️ - starting with short bursts (think 20 mins) and increasing this gradually over time (weeks and months as opposed to days)
🦵- doing calf raises while standing (your calves are "muscular pumps" that help push blood back up to the heart. This happens naturally when walking and moving and is something we have to think about when standing still for long periods.

Here's to better posture 🤸‍♂️

17/06/2025

I thoroughly enjoyed guiding the team at in another Wellness Session today.

We discussed Physical Wellness and how to think holistically using the "Wellness Wheel."

We closed the session with some simple but delicious movement and a brief meditation.

Many of us know WHAT to do but being reminded is helpful and inspiring.

13/06/2025

11/06/2025

Cold plunges are having a moment! 💧💧💧

Wim Hof popularised it, and now everyone (and their influencer brother) has swept in.
There is some promising research that indicates it is very helpful for reducing inflammation, but did you know women and men respond differently? And guess what? Most research is (still) done on men. 📖📚

If you are of the female persuasion, here are 3 things you should know, according to Dr Stacy Sims, an exercise physiologist and academic specialising in women's health:

Cold plunges are beneficial ✅
Women experience peripheral vasodilation post-exercise (blood goes away from the core to the limbs), so a cool plunge helps return blood centrally, improving recovery.

When women immerse in ice-cold water (0 degrees 🧊), the body reacts with an intense sympathetic stress, leading to vasoconstriction but no shivering. Without shivering, the metabolic benefits common in men, like improved glucose tolerance and fat metabolism, don’t materialise for many women. That feels like a waste of suffering. 😅

Instead, Sims recommends temperatures around 15–16 °C, where women do vasoconstrict and begin shivering, triggering those beneficial metabolic effects. Warmer than ice, this induces beneficial stress and recovery responses, without the harsh shock. 🌡️💪

And then P.P.S - It seems that heat exposure (like that experienced in a sauna or hot yoga class) are tolerated very well by women, and they get all of the metabolic benefits described above. So choose your poison! 🔥😉

10/06/2025

Yesterday, I shared that I'm "mid-fall" off the bandwagon in my exercise routine, and that I'm not having a cadenza about it.

In fact, I'm trusting it. And I wanted to motivate a little more around my reasoning.
"Exercise" for many of us is something that we need to do intentionally. And, in the planning and doing, there can be a lot of internal dialogue that goes along with it. Sometimes my inner dialogue sounds more like a drill sergeant than a friend.

When I returned home from a 3 week trip a month ago, I was less inclined to lean on the sergeant for support. I decided to let my inner friend guide me instead. And while that part of me has been less inclined for HIIT sessions at gym, she has guided me into twice weekly dance classes. Lots less sweat. But lots more hugs and deep breaths.

Healing one's body means healing one's relationship with it.
It's not just what we do, but how we do it.

The journey to improve one's self talk happens at the gym too.
My inner friend is starting to feel keen for some weights, and I'm happy about that because I'm missing them too. But this feels more like an integrated choice than simply feeling like I have to.

Experiment with introducing kindness to your inner dialogue and trust your inner friend to plan your movement and health ❤️

09/06/2025

I have fallen off the bandwagon.
Like right off.
It feels like it wheeled off a while ago and I lost the urge to jump back on.

In practical terms, it means that I have gone to the gym only twice in the last month and my average step count is only half of the 10 000 that I aim for.
Food wise, I've been avs... But snacking like a soon-to-be-hibernating bear.

I work with and counsel people for weight management within my scope of my practice and I encourage people to do all the things... All the things we already know we should be doing but sometimes stop doing or don't feel we can.
And I always tell them that "I fall off the bandwagon too."
When they tilt their chin and look at me with big eyes, I know there is a part of them that doesn't believe me so, here I am, making it known!

I am mid-fall and guess what?
I am still being kind to myself.

Send a message to learn more

03/04/2025

More evidence that Movement is Medicine 🚶🏼👣🚶🏿‍♀️

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/can-walking-more-steps-day-help-keep-depression-away-2025a100015f?ecd=mkm_ret_250402_mscpmrk-OUS_BO_etid7332125&uac=373205MJ&impID=7332125

21/02/2025

Consult with Aimee, an exercise specialist to help you 🌟

We use exercise to assist you with:
✅ treating acute or chronic injuries
✅ correcting incorrect posture
✅ healing post surgery
✅ preventing falls in older adults
✅ managing pain
✅ improving function post-stroke
✅ treating chronic disease and overweight

Contact us for an assessment or book online at www.barnesbio.co.za

05/12/2024

For those who are on Discovery Vitality:

You used to have to go to Dischem to get your Health Check done, and then to a Biokineticist for your Fitness Check.

Did you know that you can now do both at your Biokineticist!
This saves a huge amount of time.

It is really powerful to know your health status, which is why there are so many Benefits/Points associated with getting this done, and the only way to get to Diamond status.

Don't leave this for the last minute, book some time with Aimée Barnes Biokineticists and get it done 🙂 Some Saturday morning spots still available.

08/11/2024

"Training the hip: A progressive approach"

Why progressively mobilising and loading the hip is the best way to treat hip dysfunction 🦵

07/10/2024