The Importance of a Cardio / Aerobic Workout

With all the recent gardening I have been doing I have been getting an excellent cardio workout even though I have not hit the gym in a week. This is so important because our hearts are just like any other muscle, you have to push yourself in order to stay heart-healthy! With this in mind, I wanted to share another tidbit of information that Stephanie, my trainer at the gym, shared with me!

What occurs during an aerobic workout?

• Your breath deepens and becomes quicker, increasing the amount of oxygen in your blood.
• Your heart beats faster increasing blood flow to your muscles and lungs.
• Your capillaries open, delivering more oxygen to your muscles and taking away more waste products.
• Endorphins, your natural pain killers, are released giving you an increased sense of well-being.

Cardio on a regular basis - your body adapts!

• Your heart becomes stronger and more efficient.
• Your heart rate decreases ( a stronger heart is able to pump more blood with each beat).
• Your muscles become more efficient at consuming oxygen.
• Your mitochondria (the fuel your body uses to move) increase in number. They use oxygen to burn fat and carbs.

Working a regular cardio/aerobic workout 20-60 minutes per session, 3-5 days a week leaves you with a strong, fit heart and body! (If you are not in condition, split it up into 10 minute segments, increase the duration by 5 minutes until you reach your desired goal)

The Result:

• your clothes fit better
• you have more energy and endurance
• you have a better outlook on life
• your chance of heart disease, cancer and several other diseases and conditions decreases

Stay strong and healthy over 50! Happy Friday everyone!

The Definition of Fitness

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Wednesday today! I wanted to share with you something that my trainer at the gym shared with me recently. She said that there are FIVE components of fitness so I thought I would give you the exact information she shared with me. The five components are as follows:

Cardiovascular/Cardio Respiratory Endurance (Aerobics)

• The capacity of the heart-lung systems to deliver an adequate oxygen supply for sustained energy production.
• Example: walking, elliptical trainer, bike or treadmill. Cross training works well, it confuses the body and keeps things more interesting. **if biking or walking, make sure your heart rate is in the appropriate training zone! Talk to your trainer to find out what your zone should be!

Muscular Strength

• The amount of force that a muscle can produce in a single maximum effort
• Example: performing one dumbbell shoulder press using the heaviest weight you can possibly lift

Muscular Endurance

• The amount of force that a muscle can produce repeatedly against resistance
• Example: performing a set of 12 reps of a dumbbell shoulder press

Flexibility

• The range of motion possible about a joint

Body Composition

• The ratio of body fat to lean mass in an individual
• Example: the amount of fat compared to bones, muscle and organs, etc.

Remember! It's the trainer's job to encourage, teach and implement these components of fitness into a safe and effective fitness plan designed for you personally!

 

Let's all stay healthy! Remember, we are at an age (over 50 or pretty close to it) where maintenance of our health is vitally important! Take care of yourself and remember that if you do not set foot in a gym on a regular basis do something --- anything! Just move, keep your body active ---not sedentary! Like the saying goes, if you don't use it you lose it! Healthy Living Over 50 is very do-able!

The Danger of Sitting Too Long!

Hello everyone! Well I just got back from the cardio step-aerobics class at the gym and I have to say I feel the burn! I made the mistake of taking a few days off my exercise routine. I had not been to the gym since last Thursday which makes that a total of 4 days without exercise! It is never a good idea to take so many days off but, unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way. When this happens to you the best thing you can do is to get back in the saddle just as fast as possible. The main thing to avoid is a sedentary lifestyle. So even if you do not make it to the gym every day, you must understand the importance of not sitting too long! Oh, we all have to sit sometimes, it's inevitable and that's understood. It is not always possible to be up and about. What I am talking about though is you must resist the urge to sit constantly. Even if you have an office job, the ideal thing to do when you are on the phone is to immediately stand up and pace back and forth while you are holding your conversation. Use the ringing phone as a "reminder" to stand and pace. Condition your mind and you will condition your body. Researchers are now beginning to suspect that even though you participate in a daily exercise routine it may not be enough to counter against the effects of too much sitting thoughout the day. In a 2008 Australian study, researchers found that people who regularly break up their sedentary time with movement had a healthier waist circumference, a lower body mass index (BMI), and lower triglycerides than folks who didn't take breaks during long periods of sitting. As I have said before in earlier blog posts, I worked for almost 30 years in an office job where I spent 75% of my day at my desk which, in retrospect, I realize contributed greatly to the girth of my hips. If you work in an office where your job requires you to sit for long periods of time try these tips found in Instant Recess by Toni Yancy to help you stay active:

• Take a 10-minute activity break at a scheduled time every day.
• Park farther away from the places where you work, shop, play, study and worship
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Put printers a short walking distance away from your work or study space instead of right next to it.
• Replace desk chairs with stability balls — or use a standing desk to get rid of the chair entirely — to burn more calories while working.
• Fidget, stand up and stretch at intervals during meetings.

Remember, we are all in this together and together we can all enjoy Healthy Living Over 50!

Zumba! What a Great Cardio Workout!

Today, I think I got the best cardio workout at the gym ever! I am exhausted, but I feel exhilarated! If you have never taken a zumba class you really are missing out on a great workout. What is zumba you ask? Zumba is a latin dance fitness program that blends high energy exercise and challenging dance routines, making for a lively, invigorating combination. I have to admit, I am very new to this program. I have only been twice, but I have decided I will be participating much more often because the benefits are so great. The wonderful thing about zumba is that you do not have to be a dancer which is great, because I am probably the most uncoordinated person out there. As you start with the program, you can't help but start moving to the music and doing your best to keep up with the instructor. The class features exotic rhythms set to high-enery Latin music. The moves work your entire body. Your abs and legs get worked very hard. The energy in the room is contagious and everyone in the class is so supportive of each other. I have to admit I was very guarded at first, not knowing if I would be able to keep up after my foot surgery. But as the class progressed I realized it doesn't matter at all if you keep up or not. No one is keeping track or noticing, as the main thing is for you to just keep moving. Believe me, you will love zumba. I highly encourage you to take a leap of faith and look into your gym's schedule and just jump in and join the group! Go try zumba! You will feel the burn, get energized and kill quite a few calories!

Great Workout/Delicious and Nutritious Lunch Recipe!

Just got back from the gym and all I can say is I am VERY TIRED! I had an excellent cardio workout, but it's funny though, I don't think of it as work so much any more. As each day goes by, I find myself looking forward to the "torture". I did a solid hour of cardio today including 20 minutes on the eliptical, 20 minutes on the bike and 20 minutes on the treadmill. I had my heart rate up for a good while! I had recent foot surgery and it has greatly impacted my ability to walk with no pain, so the treadmill is a real challenge. If you find yourself in this situation, just take it easy and work up to it, maybe do 5-10 minutes at a time. When I got home, I decided to make a healthy salad for lunch. I have become very mindful of what I eat, so I do not even buy any junk food for fear of returning to my old ways!
Try this wonderful salad at home when you get a chance, it was super tasty!

Here's a photo of the basic ingredients. It includes spinach, celery, red and green bell pepper, sliced pear, broccoli slaw and feta cheese.  Everything is so easily put together! I have discovered the broccoli cole slaw recently and love the fresh, crunchy addition to the salad. I also tossed in some dried cranberries, and a small handful of sunflower seeds. For protein I added a small package of pink salmon and drizzled a small amount of balsamic vinegar dressing! Served it with a tall glass of green tea.....Very delicious and nutritious!

Staying MOTIVATED is the key!

I was at the gym today with Stephanie for my last official training session ( I only paid for 4) before going out on my own. I have to admit I have many reservations about whether I will stay motivated by myself to keep going. One thing I definitely noticed was that my endurance has improved in this short time span. When I started my journey about 10 days ago I was not able to stay on the elipticle more than 2 minutes without having to stop to catch my breath! Today, I was able to go 6 minutes, stop and catch my breath for a second and go another 5 minutes. I am told that many people have to take baby steps, but before long they will be improving by leaps and bounds. If you find yourself wanting to give up, DON'T!! KEEP GOING!! Nothing worth accomplishing is ever easy at the beginning! Now that Stephanie is letting me loose on my own she gave me a very specific work-out plan to follow. You can use this routine or tweak it a bit depending on your own ability:

Minimum 3 days a week:

FIRST: 6 min on EACH--------eliptical, bike, treadmill. This is great cardio work and will get your heart rate up which helps you burn more calories.

SECOND: 3 SETS OF 8 REPS------rowing (45lbs), pull down (60lbs), tricep press(20lbs)

THIRD: 3 SETS OF 8 REPS-------leg press (100lbs), leg extension (40lbs), leg curl (45lbs)

FOURTH: 3 SETS OF 12 REPS-----back extension (40lbs), abdominal (30lbs)

FIFTH: 3 SETS OF 8 REPS-------chest press (15lbs), shoulder press (15-20lbs)

LAST:  3 SETS OF 8 REPS-------multi-hip(40lbs-for the outer leg), (20lbs-inner leg)

Today's Tip: I learned that to achieve maximum weight loss and gain endurance you should strive to get your heart rate up to 80-85% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is figured by subtracting your age from 220. For example: 220-54(my age)=166x85%= 141. So in my case I should try to get my heart beating at 141 beats per minute to really burn calories!

Monday mornings are the hardest!

I have to admit Mondays are super hard for me. It's extremely difficult to get out of bed and get motivated to get fit! I admit I have to do a lot of talking to myself. My session at the gym with Stephanie today was especially difficult. I have a long way to go to get in shape, especially to build up strength in my core. Today was one solid hour of cardio, including eliptical, lunges, free weights and spinning. It helps to have someone who has a sunny disposition while still being very demanding and pushing you along. I find the eliptical especially hard and it seems that only after 5 minutes I am struggling to catch my breath. That, obviously, is a true indicator of how far I have to go to get where I need to be. All around me, there are people (young and old) going super fast and lasting quite a long time without stopping. Stephanie assures me I will get to this point someday and encourages me to continue on a regular workout regimen in order to get the results! All I can say is that I will certainly do my best and only time will tell! I know I am committed to making a lifestyle change in order to live healthy over 50!

Basic recommendations to get fit!

I am learning quite a bit every day about what I need to do personally to get fit. I know I have a long way to go to get where I would like to be, but if I don't get started it will never happen! You too should just decide to jump in if you would like to make a positive change in the condition of your health! Don't worry if you can only do 5 minutes worth, tomorrow try to do 6. Take baby steps if you have to, but don't give up! We can all be FIT AFTER 50! I have a great trainer named Stephanie here in Columbus and she is very supportive when I want to stop, encouraging without being pushy is the key! I will be sharing with you some fun facts that I am learning as I go along. 

Here are some basic recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine:

Do moderately intense cardio 30 minutes a day, five days a week

OR

Do vigorously intense cardio 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week

AND

Do eight to 10 strength training exercises, 8-12 reps of exercise twice a week

Moderate-intensity physical activity means working hard enought to raise your heart rate and break a sweat, yet still being able to carry on a conversation. It should be noted that to lose weight aor maintain weight loss, 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity may be necessary. The 30-minute recommendation is for the average healthy adult to maintain  health and reduce the risk of chronic disease. Hope this helps you get motivated! Now get off the couch and move!