Fitness After 50

The desire for youthful energy never leaves and is capable of staying with you well until your later years. Boomers are, however, faced with the old adage, “use it or lose it.”   It’s no wonder boomers are keen to put passion back into their lives and fight the effects of aging.  True we are living in a society with an obesity epidemic and what a better motivator than  living an independent life well into ones retirement with an increased zest and ability to perform activities of daily living with greater ease and function.

How do function and aging co-exist and blend with fitness?  They are a twin-ship, even if we don’t see them that way.  No one wants to feel and look old before their time. Much of what we blame on aging: weakness, decreased range of motion and obesity can be reversed in 30 days.  How do we look and feel younger in 30 days? Through a blissful discipline called Functional Fitness.

Americans are getting older every minute and life expectancy is ever-increasing.   People leading full productive lives after the age of retirement are no longer a “wow.”  Most baby boomers want to live active lives and learn how to enjoy a fulfilling active life.  You’re as fit as your body is functional.  Contrary to popular opinion, not even all young people are limber, for keeping flexibility relies on regular stretching. However flexibility, one of the three primary components of physical fitness, is extremely important to attaining a healthy life.  Without flexibility, simple activities, such as reaching and bending become painful. True, muscles shorten with age, but according to the National Foundation for anti-aging, “most aging is premature.”  Here are 10 tips to help you stay younger, fitter and functional.

1- Drink six to eight glasses of water each day. Hydrate skin, nourish it, and prevent wrinkles.

2- Stretch and strengthen your legs. Doing calf raises and tiptoe walking every other day improves circulation and helps prevents spider veins.

3- Incorporate upper-body exercises. Lift mini dumbbells, and stretch back muscles. This protects against osteoporosis.

4- Strengthen your abs five days a week. Sit-ups enhance blood flow to vital organs, repairing tissue damage.

5- Add aerobic exercise. Keep your heart and lungs youthful and fit.

6 – Choose aerobics that enhance brain power. Jogging, bicycling, and speed walking sharpen memory and increase attention span.

7- Use diaphragmatic breathing. Inhale through your nose so debris and pollutants are filtered from the air. Make your belly rise, and then fall slowly, exhaling through pursed lips. Relaxed breathing decreases levels of stress hormones that accelerate aging.

8- Eat baked, broiled, or grilled salmon two times per week. Its omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins combat disease-causing free radicals.

 9- Try colorful vegetables. Dr. Roy Vartabedian, author of “Nutripoints,” and Nutrition Expert for Functional Fitness starring Suzanne Andrews, ® recommends spinach, broccoli and romaine lettuce daily with lunch and dinner.  Dark green vegetables have cancer-fighting properties and vitamin C to boost your immune system. Tomatoes are also on this “fighter veggies” list.

 10- Enjoy fresh fruit for dessert.  Dr. Vartabedian suggests cantaloupe, guava, and papaya. These also combat the cell damage that causes premature aging.

14 Ways Beginner Yoga Benefits YOU

Yoga may seem mysterious to the uninitiated, but it is simply a form of exercise that stimulates your mind and increases your body’s level of fitness. Yoga means to Yoke – to unite – your mind, body and spirit and was derived from the Sanskrit Indians well over 5000 years ago.  Although yoga is ancient, it can and does make people feel 10 – 20 years younger.

Yoga means many different things to many different people. It is rooted in Indian spiritual tradition, and indeed the word yogi means someone who practices yoga.

The word Yoga itself comes from the Indian word, yug, “to unify.”  A goal of yoga is to unify your mind, body and spirit, and to bring you to a more relaxed state of being. Unlike other forms of exercise, yoga incorporates movement for physical health with breathing and meditation for peace of mind.  When you practice yoga breathing, you are better able to connect inner peace from your mind to every piece of your body.

There are many different styles of yoga, each with its own focus.  The two most common types practiced in the United States are Hatha Yoga and  Bikram Yoga, also known as ‘Hot” yoga.  Each has it’s own style of movement and thought.

Consequently, yoga is not a religion.  People who practice yoga can be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Agnostic or any other religion they wish.  Yoga is a time proven method to enhancing mental focus and physical balance to help you function at full capacity.

What Type of Yoga is Right For You?

 Hatha Yoga, meaning sun (ha) and moon (tha)  has become very popular in the West and is the most physical type of yoga.  Yogi’s who practice Hatha recognize that a weak and tired body is a barrier to achieving spiritual enlightenment.  Therefore Hatha yoga aims to make your body an ideal vehicle for good health and fill it with energy.  Hatha concentrates on postures (asanas) and breathing exercises (pranayama) and meditation, (Dhyana) to energize the mind, body and spirit. Whereas Hatha yoga is generally practiced at a comfortable 72 – 76 degrees, Bikram yoga is practiced in a room that is between 95 – 108 degrees with humidity level of 60%.  Bikram Yoga consists of 26 poses practiced for a period of ninety minutes and requires that you are able to exercise in very hot temperatures.  If you choose this type of yoga, make sure to stay hydrated with water.  If you feel more comfortable at home there are plenty of DVD’s to start you off before you venture out to a class.  Just make sure to choose one appropriate for you age and fitness level.

Let’s talk about why you need to practice yoga.  Muscle connective tissues have a natural tendency to shorten with aging, as often evidenced in the stiffness of people age 30 and over.  Muscles must be regularly stretched to minimize the effect of natural muscle shortening. Flexibility, one of the three primary components of physical fitness, keeps muscle supple and responsive to the demands of daily life activities.  Because no matter how strong your muscles are, if your muscles are tight:  bending and reaching will become painful.

Yoga helps combat the negative effects of stiffness, pain, disability and stress through relaxation both mentally and physically. The intrinsic rewards of practicing yoga are immense.  Yoga offers gentle stretch, strengthening and physical/mental conditioning of the mind, body and spirit that significantly improves lives.

Yoga practice is at an all time high – The Yoga Journal reports that there are now 16 million people practicing yoga in the United States.  Yoga may be new to us westerners, but it is over 5000 years old – and it can make you look and feel 10 - 20 years younger.

The Mayo Clinic September 2003 Newsletter reports, “yoga IS effective at relieving stress.”

According to the National Institue of Health, “regular yoga practice can help reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, alter brain waves and assist you heart to work more efficiently.

Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia demonstrated how just one session of yoga can lower blood levels of the stress hormone – cortisol.  “Participants cortisol level were measured before and after they practiced yoga, then again before and after they sat quietly while reading or writing.  After the yoga sessions, cortisol levels dropped.  There was no drop after the resting sessions.”

 Youthful Benefits of Yoga

• Increase Flexibility


• Reduce Pain from tight muscles


• Releases Stress and Reduces Anxiety Level


• Weight Loss


• Lower Blood Pressure


• Lower Blood Sugar


• Increase Energy


• Enhance Concentration


• Boost immune system


• Improves Heart Health


• Strengthens respitory system


• Helps you sleep better


• Can help relieve the pain from tension headaces


• Improves your overall quality of life

 Suzanne Andrews is the Health and Fitness Expert on WDSC TV’s Healthy Lifestyle Show, the host of Functional Fitness on Public Television and is also a licensed Occupational Therapy Practitioner and specializes in safe and effective health and wellness DVD’s for people age 40 – 80 years. 

How Yoga Helps You Release Stress and Regain Flexibility

BEFORE                                                                                                                                                                                 AFTER: Fitting into skinny jeans!

Are you tired of feeling like you’re literally weighed down? Get ready to lift your spirits and lighten up your body with these 10 ‘Amendments’ to losing weight and keep it off for good. 

 

Amendment # 1: Thou Shall Stop All Excuses

Three of the most common excuses for living an unhealthy lifestyle are:

 A) I don’t have the time

B) It’s genetic, my family is overweight.

C) I’m too tired to exercise

 30 minutes a day is better than days, weeks or months spent being sick and tired. Our culture has ingrained in us to do things the easy way. We live in a country where if we could we’d probably drive ourselves to the bathroom!

 As far as your genetics – most of the chronic disease today is linked to poor eating habits, smoking, inactive living and stress.  These are things that you can take charge of. 

You just have to commit to do it. 

Here is what a good fat burning fitness program does for you.

1. Reduces your risk of getting heart disease


2. Increase your level of muscle strength


3. Improves the functioning of your immune system


4. Helps you manage stress


5. Helps you lose weight


6. Improves the likelihood of surviving a heart attack.


7. Helps relieve tension headaches


8. Improves your body’s ability to burn fat


9. Decreases Injury risk


10. Increases bone density


11. Reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure


12. Increases levels of healthy cholesterol


13. Reduces your risk of developing non insulin dependant diabetes

 

 Amendment #2: Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Childs Food

 Are you a member of the clean plate club for yourself, your children and everyone else sitting at the table?  Do you feel compelled to finish off juniors food because you don’t want it to go to waste?  You can change this by changing your thinking to, “I don’t want juniors’ leftovers to go to my waist.” Those extra calories add up to increased inches on your waistline.

 Amendment #3:  Thou Shall Not Eat Fatty Fast Foods

 Do you eat fast foods because you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to make something?  By taking the time to prepare your meals you’ll add years of time to your life and save yourself a lot of money both in the short term with immediate food bill savings and in the long term with medical bill savings.

  Amendment #4:  Thou Shall Love Thyself

 Love thyself is not just a cliché.  By getting in shape, you are essentially saying to your partner and all those that love you, I love myself enough to take care of my health and I want to be around a long time to share my life with you. When we commit to love our body, we make wholesome choices and feel free to discover the restorative powers of good health. From the moment you realize you love yourself enough – a paradise lost is regained.  Those seeds of wholeness – given to us at from God at creation are within us.

  Amendment #5:  Thou Shall Make Time To Exercise 5 – 6 Days a Week

 Whether you feel you don’t have the time to exercise, or you feel you get enough during the day – to lose the weight you first need to lose the excuses.  In order to burn fat you need to do at least 30 minutes of sustained exercise and get your heart rate pumping. 

 Amendment #6:  Thou Shall Learn How To Manage Stress

 If you eat from stress, you’re not alone.  A large majority of my clients eat out of stress and this causes weight gain which causes stress which causes weight gain… and a cycle is born.  A stressful day can be dramatically transformed with purposeful exercise.  Learn to exercise and stay mentally focused on your muscles being worked.  By spending time on just yourself and letting go of responsibilities, even if just for 30 minutes, you will take years of stress away from your mind/body and spirit. 

 Amendment #7:  Thou Shall Have Patients With Thy Weight Loss Plan

 Weight is not gained overnight and it won’t come off overnight either.  By falling for every lose weight quick scheme you are only cheating yourself from having the healthy, shapely body you will have by following a sensible diet and exercise plan. Have patients with yourself and you’ll have a far less likely chance of becoming a patient.

 Amendment #8: Thou Shall Not Halt Thy Weight Loss Plan Because Thou ‘was bad.’

 Let’s face it, we’re not perfect and we all have slip-ups. During a taping of one of my exercise shows for television, I slipped on wet grass and decided to keep it in just to demonstrate that you don’t have to be perfect or beat yourself up if you fall.  Just get right back up again and keep going.

 Amendment # 9:  Thou Shall Be Strong For Thyself

 There will be times when you are around people who mean well when they say, Oh come on, just try my delicious cake, it won’t hurt.  True it won’t hurt – them, but you yes, it will hurt your goal to arrive at your destined weight.  In those moments of weakness when there’s that little guy on one shoulder saying, “come on, have a bite, just one, it won’t hurt, or you can exercise tomorrow,” you need to be strong for yourself and keep your vision on your goal. 

 Amendment # 10:  Thou Shall Make Conscious Choices

 What is consciousness? It is you.  You are consciousness. It is this very consciousness that tells you innately who you are and what choices you need to make.  It is your deeper self, your greater self.  Call it what you will.  The important thing is that it is within you.  It is your world.  You can’t see it, smell it, touch it or hear it.  But you can, and do, feel it.  Being aware of and accepting of this reverence gives your life the richness it deserves.  That is living a life in consciousness.     Now that you know, you can put it all together.  Your life was not a random event; it was a gift of love- God’s love. 

Healthiest Blessings,

Suzanne Andrews, Host of PBS TV Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews® on Public Television.

Would you like to get fitter, healthier, firmer without stepping one foot into a gym?  If you are over 40 and want a doctor recommended program that offers you three levels of fitness utlizing household items rather than expensive exercise equipment, email your home town PBS station now and request the series and get ready to put the FUN in FUNctional Fitness!

Number One Stress Secret You Need to Know Now

You have stress. You’ve always had stress. You can’t remember a time without stress. You work for a company called Stress. You have a kid named Stress, the dog is Stress and you even married a guy named Stress. You find yourself asking, who am I and how did I get here?

Amazing stress secret revealed…..The World is a Busy Place. You feed the kids, walk the dog, Stress, around the block, go to work, cram in a 15 minute lunch, fight traffic going home, take Stress to soccer practice, get groceries at Stress Mart, car repairs, music lessons and then you go to sleep with Stress snuggled next to you.  Stress wants to have sex and instead of feeling all warm and fuzzy, you’re thinking, “I hope he’s kidding”. Whew, all this full and active life stuff is getting to be a little much.

There never seems to be enough time. That is, time for yourself. But now is the time to make some time because before you know it you’re out of time and after that, times up!

With stress reaching epidemic proportions, emotional eating has become the fastest way to release stress and that usually means fats and sugars.  With the added stressors of overwhelming work schedules and the struggling demands of daily life, Americans are carrying heavier burdens and equally excessive weight.  But you need not carry the weight of the world on your back, hips, thighs or belly – with these simple stress releasing techniques, you can release stress, boost your energy and lose weight at the same time.

Breathing for Stress Release and Weight Loss:

When you are stressed, your body releases powerful hormones including the major stress hormone cortisol.  Cortisol can cause you to crave sweets and other carbohydrate rich foods.  Since stress can raise your blood sugar as much as a candy bar, your body will greatly benefit from quick and simple, breathing techniques that have been used for years to arrest stress which helps you avoid the urge to succumb to comfort foods.  If you drive a car you have time to do this.  Take a deep breath and inhale through your nose for two seconds and exhale for four seconds out your mouth. Repeat this process 6 times before going into work and see if you don’t feel better. Bet you do! Repeat this anytime you’re alone throughout the day and again on the way home.

Stretching

 As we age, our muscles shorten and become tighter and the range of motion in our joints  decreases.  This can put a damper on busy lifestyles and even hinder day-to-day, normal activities. Chores that used to be simple, such as bringing in groceries from the car or reaching for a jar off of the top shelf, now become difficult. A regular stretching program can help lengthen your muscles, increase your flexibility and make daily living activities easier.

Everyone can learn to stretch, regardless of age, size or flexibility. Stretching needs to be a part of your daily routine, whether you exercise or not. There are plenty simple stretches you can do while watching TV, on the computer, or getting ready for bed. If you are doing strength training exercises, stretch in between sets. It feels good and saves time from stretching at the end of the workout!

It does not have to involve a huge time commitment, but stretching can end up giving you huge results! Here are just a few of the benefits you can expect from a regular stretching program:

• Reduced tension in muscles


• Increased range of motion in the joints


• Better muscular coordination


• Better blood circulation


• More energy as a result of the increased circulation

Yoga:

Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia demonstrated how just one session of yoga can lower blood levels of the stress hormone – cortisol.  “Participants cortisol levels were measured before and after they practiced yoga, then again before and after they sat quietly while reading or writing.  After the yoga sessions, cortisol levels dropped.  There was no drop after the resting sessions.”  Less cortisol means less cravings for sweets.

The thing that most people don’t realize about yoga is that when you go into a simple yoga pose and hold it, you’re using almost every muscle in your body. That few moments of tension on the muscles is using energy, thereby burning fat. You wind up using your own body weight instead of hand weights and for the most part accomplishing the same thing, losing weight and gaining strength and stamina. Ever seen a pudgy yoga teacher? Me neither.

All these things lead to a stronger heart, stronger muscles, better blood circulation, more stamina and better sleep. Not to mention a better outlook when Stress rolls over and says, “oh honey?”

 

Secrets to Affordable Aging Revealed

With sky-rising healthcare costs, the cost of aging is steadily climbing .  It seems the more we make, the cost of everything continues to increase.   As a result, medical bills have the power to eliminate most of the money we put away for other things, like vacations or gifts for the grandkids. So, what do you do?

According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute a man who retires at 65 can expect to live until 83. He will need to have around $65k to $109k in those years to cover insurance premiums and out of pocket expenses. That works out to $270 to $450 a month.

For women, the EBRI says retiring at 65 and living until 85 will mean she’ll need $88k to $146k for insurance premiums and out of pocket expenses which works out to $366 to $608 a month.  Both men and women will need these amounts on hand to provide a 50% chance of having enough to cover these expenses. If you’re getting $1000 a month from Social Security these costs will eat up about 25% to 60% of those payments alone.

If you have managed to secure a considerable nest egg, good for you. If you haven’t, it might be time get some part time work. Besides, retirement is boring. You know, all that rest and relaxation gets old pretty quick.

Here’s a novel idea that can save you money on healthcare costs.   Stay out of the health care merry-go-round as best you can.  And just how do you do that? Start an exercise program geared towards your needs, abilities or limitations. That means if you’re in a wheelchair seek seated exercise programs. If your knees are gone, ride a bike or do some gentle exercise programs.  If you have asthma, don’t take up hiking in the mountains.  Start slow and take walks around the neighborhood. It’s important to find something you enjoy because you’re more likely to do it. The more you do it the healthier you get. If you have arthritis, do an exercise program especially for arthritis and limber up your joints and muscles.

You needn’t strive to be an athlete.  If you are just getting started, exercise will make you healthier.  You’ll have stronger muscles to lift things, denser bones to absorb shock from falls and a stronger heart to pump more blood and oxygen to all the organs in your body which makes them all work better. Pills, sometimes necessary, are not always an easy fix and can cause many undesirable side effects and mask the symptoms.   Exercise can eliminate the cause. There are countless examples of people who were taking a dozen pills a day that went down to 2, 3 or none a day because of regular exercise.

The healthier you are, the less likely it is you will have to employ the skills and costs of doctors, nurses, therapists and pharmacists for whatever ails you. They worked long and hard to acquire those skills and they can’t afford to work cheap.  Plan for your health now instead of being a patient for your health care plan.