Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she's seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.

This week's client: Brad, a busy entertainment lawyer by day and warrior by weekend who thrives on high intensity exercise.

The Problem: Brad gets headaches after any exercise whether it be lifting weights, cardio or playing hockey.

When Brad hired me as his nutrition coach and personal trainer, he was (sorry boys) a stereotypical beer-drinking, wing-eating guy who worked hard by day and played hard by night and weekends. He knew exercise was important and he wanted to lose 30lbs, so he came to me in hopes that he could shed his beer belly and get more energy.

What Brad didn't realize was that I was going to help him solve a problem that had prevented him from taking his fitness to the next level -- post-workout headaches. They weren't debilitating enough to prevent him from his belly-fat-burning workout but they were most certainly unpleasant enough that often he couldn't make any social plans immediately after exercise until his pain medication kicked in. Of course, being a holistic nutritionist I cringed at the thought of how many pain meds he'd popped over the years and what his poor liver had to say, but we will save that post for another day.

Solution after the jump

Natasha Turner, N.D. is a Toronto-based naturopathic doctor. She is the founder of the Clear Medicine wellness boutique and author of the bestselling book The Hormone Diet. Each week in her column for That's Fit.ca, Dr. Turner advises readers on how to remedy common health issues as well as improve their overall health.

Have you ever been caught grabbing a bit of shut-eye at your desk? What was your excuse to your boss? New sleep research may be your best answer.

A 2002 study from Harvard University considered worker burnout over four days of training and the effect of napping. As the four days of training wore on, the workers began to experience burnout. But the good news is - the study found that workers who were allowed to take a 30-minute nap on the second day of a four-day training session experienced less decline in visual tasks. A one-hour nap was actually found to return performance back to normal in the last two sessions.

That is not to say that curling up for an hour or so at the office should be sanctioned, but keeping it to less than 30 minutes might not be so far-fetched. It seems that half-hour naps should not only be recognized as acceptable by companies, but also beneficial. This is old news to many European countries where afternoon siestas are standard practice and many shops close for an hour or so each afternoon.

Afternoon drowsiness is a major problem for many corporations: it is estimated that lost productivity costs billions of dollars every year. A possible solution is to allow 20 to 30 minutes of napping per day when it is deemed necessary, creating a work environment that may actually help boost workplace productivity rather than hinder it. In today's fast-paced society and tough economy, however, most companies frown on napping in the workplace rather than encourage it.

Can't squeeze in a nap? Use these nine tips to boost your energy and productivity during the day:

Aside from not being very attractive, bad posture can also cause health problems such as injuries and back pain. It seems there are very few fitness activities that focus on maintaining posture. But, Pilates, if done properly, is all about posture and inner strength building.

Margot McKinnon, owner and director of Body Harmonics Pilates talks about Pilates and the importance of posture for a healthier, fitter you.

Q: What is the connection between Pilates and posture?

A: Pilates helps you come closer to a more ideal posture by building the body from the inside out by getting your joints and muscles to work better. When you go the gym, you're only training outside muscles. Outside muscles only work as well as the inside muscles. Pilates trains both inside and outside muscles. The key to Pilates is to work with your structure and your skeleton to make yourself move in a way that works best for you. Pilates is also very focused on your core muscles. It's the core that supports the spine and the whole body. If you don't have a strong core, that's when you develop postural problems.

Dear Sarah,

As the weather gets warmer, the smog warnings increase. I enjoy exercising outdoors in the summer, but I wonder: is smog a danger to my exercise regime?

Dana

Dear Dana,

Yes, smog has a strong effect on your physical performance because it affects your aerobic capacity. Your aerobic capacity is the highest amount of oxygen you can consume during exercise.

If you are going to be exercising for more than a couple of minutes, your body needs to get oxygen to its muscles. If the muscles do not receive enough oxygen, they become fatigued or they will simply stop working.

Smog is a byproduct of chemical reactions, which include carbon monoxide, ozone, and sulfur dioxide. How smog affects you depends on your body's ability to filter it in your respiratory system. Smog can inflame breathing passages, decreasing the lungs' working capacity, and causing shortness of breath, pain when inhaling deeply, wheezing, and coughing. It also has the ability to irritate the eyes, nose, and throat.

Yay! Thanks for this awesome post, Doug!

I am a former addict (possibly still, but I'm successfully quitting at the moment), and these are really good suggestions. One thing I am very curious about, maybe you would know something: I have a coworker who says her doctor told her to take caffeine (possibly not specifically coffee) for her chronic migraines. Any idea why?

Phoebe

Hi Phoebe,

Glad you liked the coffee post. Coffee is sometimes used as a tool to help prevent migraine headaches. Although many sources site caffeine addiction as the cause, and therefore the cure, for migraine headaches, I've known several migraine sufferers who've said coffee prevents their headaches even if they never have caffeine normally. My understanding is that, if you catch the migraine right at the beginning, a cup of strong black coffee may stop the headache in its tracks. In fact, many over the counter headache medications contain caffeine.

So what's going on here?