The 50's are a sandwich generation of fitness; we don't want to work out like we did 15, 10 or even 5 years ago, yet we aren't ready for the "senior" classes either. I'm revamping this blog to be a blend of health and fitness tips that I hope all of you "fiftysomethings" will find helpful.
***I am not a doctor or nutritionist.
Please consult your physician before performing any exercises or following any tips shown on this blog.
Ballet dancers have such incredibly fit bodies. Their muscles are long and lean. Pilates is great for core strength and a barre workout is great for the legs.
You don't have to have a ballet bar to do this workout, you can use a high backed chair instead. There is no warm up or cool down provided.
Couple of notes:
--Do regular pushups (don't try to hook your legs on the chair), you could, however, place your feet on the seat of the chair--keep in mind this is much harder.
--When doing the ab work, sit on the chair and hold onto the sides of the chair. Move your legs the same way as they do in the video.
--When they do the pull ups, do tricep dips instead.
--Lastly when they are laying on their backs, place your legs on the seat of the chair.
Today's article was posted last week on facebook via IdeaFit. The article is from MindBodyGreen.com and is written by cardiologist Dr. Joel Kahn. I don't know if I want to live to be 100, but if I do, I want to do so in the most healthy way that I can.
Surprisingly, one thing that I was only briefly mentioned was to laugh. Laughing helps relieve physical tension and stress which thereby relaxes your entire body. This decrease in stress hormones, along with an increase in immune cells and infection fighting antibodies, also helps to boost the immune system. It triggers the release of endorphins (which are your body's natural feel good chemicals), and improves mood. These are just a few of the health benefits to laughing. Maybe I'll post a future article dedicated to this topic.
Are there any specific topics that you are interested in? If so, add a comment here, or on my facebook page.
Today's workout comes from FitSugar and is a 40 minute full body workout. You will need a set of weights 5-8 lbs. If you don't have weights by now, I'd really suggest getting a pair--start with 5 lbs and go up from there when you are ready.
Another option is adjustable dumbbells. You can change the total weight by adding or subtracting plates (pictured). These can be adjusted from a starting weight of anywhere from 3-5 lbs to usually 10-25 lbs (per dumbbell). These are more costly, but in the long run may save you money if you have to keep buying heavier weights.
I've posted several recipes from this website, but there is more to Cooking Light than just recipes. There are articles on nutrition and making healthy choices, there are articles on fitness along with workouts. There are sections on healthy travel and restaurant guides, creating healthy habits and more.
I have been getting this magazine for years. I still like to actually look through the pages and dog ear the recipes I want to try. The website is an added bonus for me because now I take my dog eared magazine, go to the website and pin the recipes I want to keep to my boards on Pinterest. It's allowed me to recycle the magazines without having a bunch of torn out pages to sort through later. The recipes are all linked to the myrecipes.com website. There is a lighter, healthier recipe for practically everything you can think of.
Today I'm featuring a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout. These types of workouts have become very popular recently mainly because they can burn more calories in a shorter amount of time.
The work is done in short bursts--in this video they are 20 seconds--doing a high intensity move that really can't be done for much longer, then resting for a period of 10 seconds. The exercise is then either repeated again or several times, or a series of exercises are done one after the other and then the entire series is repeated one or more times.
Here, the individual exercises are repeated three times and then the entire workout is repeated again. It is a 20 minute workout with a warm up, but no cool down and stretch--so do that separately.
This workout focuses on abs and obliques, but it is also very cardio since it moves from one exercise to another with only 10 seconds of rest, so you will be burning a lot of calories as well.
These workouts are intense as the name implies. If you need to take a longer rest in between exercises, take it, and as always, if you need to modify, please modify. Your heart rate is meant to get higher than in a regular cardio class; just remember, if your heart rate gets too high, don't just stop, walk around and let it come down and then continue on.
Just a couple of safety issues:
Flutter Kicks: If your neck gets too fatigued, do not put your hands behind your head. Instead, put your head down on the floor and make the kicks smaller (don't bring the leg so close to the ground). If you feel any back pain while doing this exercise, adjust your legs the same way--make the movement smaller.
Bicycles: Keep your elbows back. Lead with your chest and shoulders--this will stop you from pulling on your neck.
Russian Twist: As he states in the video, you can modify by putting your feet down on the floor.
If you're still following the BeFit in 90 series, Day 9 / Phase 1 again consists of 4 videos previously posted. For your convenience, here's a link to that page: BeFit in 90 - Day 9
Today, I'm continuing on with the Beach Body workout series from Shape Magazine. This is an upper body workout with some core work (when you are in plank position). They don't do much of a cool down, so I'd do that separately.
Remember when doing punches, keep your movements controlled and don't lock out your elbows. The woman in the video provides modifications for each of the exercises, so you can work out at your own level.
Beach Body Workout 8: Upper Body
Remember this?
I remember back to when I first saw Linda Hamilton in Teminator 2, I so wanted her ripped arms!!! Realistically, that wasn't going to happen when I read how many hours a day she worked out in order to get that body. (So again, don't worry--you won't get huge muscles from the workouts I post).
Now I'm happy that my arms look more like the first picture. Nothing feels better than to be able to rock that tank top, or sleeveless dress! You may think that it's all bicep work, but really, it's working out your shoulders and triceps as well that actually gives your arms that awesome muscle tone. So work those muscles so you can show off your guns this Summer!!!
Today I decided to share a recipe to celebrate Mom! Chocolate and strawberries--what could be better?!
Strawberries have been on sale at several of my local grocery stores the past couple of weeks. They are one of my favorites! This dessert is fresh and light, but delectable and sinful tasting at the same time. Enjoy!!!
