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.
I can't believe my last post was more than a month ago. Time flies.
I love to dance because it doesn't feel like a workout to me, so I thought I'd start back with a dance workout from the new Burn to the Beat series from BeFit. It's a 10 minute core focused routine, that's a lot of fun. If dancing intimidates you, just remember to "dance like no one is watching", because, well, no one is!
There is no warm up or cool down. Please do those on your own.
Here's the introduction video to the Burn to the Beat fitness series:
The challenge for this week was to try something different, so I thought I'd find some new types of workouts to post.
Don't worry, you don't have to stand on your head to do this workout! Upside Down is the name of a Pilates studio in Hawaii and also the name of a YouTube channel I recently found.
In this workout, you will use a resistance band. You can use one like they show in the video, or one with handles, adjusting your grip to provide the right amount of resistance. The focus in this 30 minute workout is the abdominal and back muscles.
If you are unfamiliar with Pilates, or don't have a resistance band, you can do the workout without it.
I've posted over and over again, that you cannot get a flat stomach or lose body fat just by exercising. What you eat is extremely important!
That being said, today's video combines fat burning cardio with strength and toning exercises geared towards your abdominal muscles. It is from blogilates and is about 8 minutes long.
Use a mat or do on a carpeted floor. I don't know how she is doing some of these exercises on a hard wood floor!
Listen to your body--modify if and when you need to.
Today's workout comes from Cassey Ho of blogilates. It is an intense 10 minute workout that focuses on the abdominal muscles. Make sure you warm up a bit first before doing this workout. You could also do this at the end of a cardio or other strength training workout as well.
I found a great full body workout from another new channel on YouTube today. The channel is called Christine Salus, she's the instructor, and the workout is a 500 Calorie Total Body HIIT + an Ab Challenge.
The routine's format is as follows (from the video):
Part 1: Complete 4 rounds of the following exercises (50 seconds work, 10 seconds rest) for a 20 minute workout
1) Speed Skaters 2) 4x Supermans, 4x Tricep pushups 3) 4x switch lunge, 4x squat jump 4) 4x lateral jumps (1 legged), 1 burpee 5) 4x side plank toe touches, 4x crab toe touches 8 Minute Ab Challenge: Complete 2 rounds of the following exercises (50 seconds work, 10 seconds rest)
Today's workout comes from . It is Day 23 of her 30 day workout challenge.
All 10 exercises use a stability ball. If you don't have one, she gives an alternate workout on her website, benderfitness.com. The exercises are done for 50 seconds with 10 seconds rest.
No warm up or cool down are provided, please do those on your own.
If you have back issues, don't do the back-bend over the ball--too much risk.
Today's workout is another one from the 30 Day Fat Burn series from BeFit. It is called Metabolic Boost.
It is an intense 10 minute workout that includes the 4 cycles for 4 exercises, done for 30 seconds each. Each cycle is a progression from the previous cycle--modify to the earlier exercise if you need to.
The exercises included are:
Squat
Plank
Alternating Back Lunge
Mountain Climber
Squat Jump
Up Down Planks
Alternating Jump Lunges
Push-Up Climber Combo
Squat Jump/ Heel Click
Side Plank/ Hip Pulse Combo
Lunge Pulse
Crawls to Climbers Combo
Squat Pulses
Side Plank/ Hip Pulse Combo
Lunge Pulse
Climbers to Alternate Reaches
No warm up or cool down/stretch are included, please do those on your own.
Since I didn't post yesterday, I thought I'd add a wild ab challenge from blogilates as well. Do as many as you can with great form.
Today's workout comes from jessicasmithtv. It is a routine dedicated to your core muscles (abs, obliques and back). Quite a few of the exercises are taken from Pilates. If having your knees bent the way she does in the picture bothers you, you can adjust the legs until it feels right.
Since we are expecting more snow tonight, I thought it'd be nice to give you the illusion of working out in warmer weather....
Today's workout comes from blogilates. It is basically a set of two challenges. First, you will be in a sit back position with 1 leg extended and will draw the letters of the alphabet in the air in front of you, switching legs half way through. Great for core stability and strength. The more you lean back, the more challenging it is.
In the second challenge you are on your back and the letters are made with your legs.
Please warm up first.
Give your lower back and abs a good stretch at the end--for lower back, hug your knees (grab behind the thighs) to your chest--hold for 30 secs to 1 minute. To stretch you abs, take your hands overhead and legs straight out (like a pencil) --breath in and stretch from fingertips to toes, hold for a second and breath out. Do this several times.
Yes, I missed another Monday post. Monday's are really busy for me, so I decided to make Monday about Motivation. I will post something motivational to start your week, along with the usual weekly challenge that I usually post directly to Facebook.
Since I post the Wild Workout on Wednesday, and Total Body on Thursday--you will get plenty of muscle work posts for the week.
Don't let this be an excuse for you to skip your workout on Mondays--there are plenty of past posts and videos on YouTube to choose from.
Enough about Monday, today is Tuesday, so that means core work. Today's video comes from FitnessBlender and includes upper body strength training as well.
It is about 28 minutes long and consists of 3 groups of 3 exercises that are performed for 45 seconds with 15 seconds rest in between. Each group is repeated twice.
You will need dumbbells, a bench, table, chair or step and a mat or carpeted area.
A warm up and cool down/stretch are both included.
From the website:
What if some of these exercises are too advanced for me? These exercises are easily modified in order to be more beginner friendly. For example, if the full staggered hand push up is too hard, you can do the same push up from your knees. If a pike push up is too hard for you at this point, switch it out for a simple overhead press with dumbbells. Move as slowly as you need to (you can do fewer reps than Daniel does in the video), and only lift as heavy of a weight that you can control through the entire range of the exercise.
It's been a while since I posted a longer workout--this one is about 54 minutes long. It comes from RealFitTv.
It combines upper body kickboxing moves with pushups, bicycle crunches and jump rope segments. It can be done with or without light weights (no more than 3 lbs.). If you are new to kickboxing, leave the weights out of it. If you don't have a jump rope, just do the jumping and pretend to turn the rope.
I found 3 challege videos from mytrainerbob (Harper that is). These challenges can be used in different ways. First, they can be used as assessments--a starting point to see where you are now and how you can improve and progress in the future. They can also be used as plateau busters. By challenging your muscles to do more or something they are not used to doing will help get you out of that rut. Lastly, they are great quick add-ons to any cardio workout you are doing.
Do a quick warm up first, just to get your muscles ready--nothing too strenuous, you want to see just what your body can do.
The first one is a Plank Challenge--as I've stated in the past, a plank is one of, it not the best core exercise you can do. It target all the abdominal muscles--that's why these are so hard. Do what you can, try to stay at the highest level possible until you start to lose form, then you can go down to your knees a bit, but try to come back up to your toes as much as you can.
The second one is also a core challenge. This one is a Single Leg Trunk Rotation-- 20 reps on each side, with or without added weight. Time yourself on this one, see how long it takes. Make sure you keep your hips and knees facing forward the whole time. Make that rotation come from your abdominals, not your hips. The balance element makes your core and your glutes work even harder.
I couldn't get the video to load directly--the link is under the picture.
Since I missed yesterday, the last video is a Lateral Raise challenge for your shoulders. Again, this is a set number of reps--15 each side. See how long it takes for you to do them. Keep your shoulders relaxed from your ears the entire time. If you need to shake out, do it and then continue until you are finished.
Don't forget to stretch out your abs, lower back and shoulders afterward.
Today I'm posting two workouts because I missed yesterday. I found a new channel on YouTube called XHIT Daily. Both workouts are from here. No warm up or cool down are provided, please do those on your own. You need a stability ball for a few of the exercises.
The first one is an abdominal workout consisting of 7 exercises, each done for 1 minute.
The second is a beginner upper body routine that consists of 13 exercises each done for 15 reps. Because she does one exercise right after another with little rest, this has a bit of a fat burning/cardio element as well. You need a ball, or bench/coffee table to lay on and a set of dumb bells.
One note, when she is doing chest flyes, the heading says she's doing upright rows. She does those later and they are labeled correctly.
Today's workout comes from Lionsgate BeFit. It is a beginner cardio barre total body routine. You don't have to have a bar to do this routine--you can use a high back chair, a counter top, or even a wall.
From the description on YouTube:
"Cardio Barre: Introductory Workout is a unique, 20 minute high energy/no impact exercise routine that combines dance-inspired barre work and light weights with continual fat burning motion to tone the entire body, strengthen the core, and kick start your weight loss potential. Cardio Barre, Hollywood's Hottest Workout guides you through several basic moves that will activate the abdominals to build a strong core, promote beautiful posture, and improve balance. You will sculpt lean muscle and slim the waistline while toning the hips, thighs, abs, legs, chest, arms, calves, obliques,"
Just a couple of form tips: Pulses and bounces are two different things. You want all moves, even the small ones to be controlled.
Some of the moves are kind of fast, which will make it more cardio, however, do it at your own pace, remember-- form is more important than speed always.
Feel free to wear shoes if you'd like, but they are not necessary. When doing balance work it's actually easier to go barefoot because you can grip with your toes.
On the abdominal crunches, keep your elbows back in line your ears.
When you are on your side, make sure to stay lifted out of that bottom shoulder--no slouching!
You need one lighter weight. A warm up and stretch are both provided.
Challenges are like mini fitness tests. They are a great way to see where you are in your fitness and they also make a great starting point for you to make improvements from.
Today I'm going to start you off with a couple of challenges from POPSUGAR Fitness. The first one is a 1 minute mountain climber challenge. This will burn some calories and get your body warm. I'd suggest you do a short warm up first--some high knees or jumping jacks and some arm swings.
The second one is a 1 minute core challenge. Make sure that you don't yank your body up or let your body drop down. If you need to keep your feet on the floor to come up and then lift them, go ahead and do that.
Keep track of how you did in these challenges and then repeat them again in a couple of weeks to see if you can beat that original number.
The second video also comes from Popsugar. It is a 10 minute crunch free core routine.
Make sure to give the abs and back a good stretch after this routine.
Sorry I missed posting yesterday, my husband and I were taking our son back to school for his final semester! Yay only one more to go--thankfully he's a junior, so we get a year off!
Today's muscle workout comes from blogilates. It is a standing pilates routine that focuses on the legs, butt and obliques.
There is no warm up, please do a short one first--march in place, do some squats, swing your arms around, just to warm the muscles up a bit.
Here's your bonus recipe: Pecan Crusted Mahi Mahi
I made this for dinner the other night--SO good!!!
It comes from Good Clean Fun which I guess is now A Whisk and a Hammer.
I omitted the cinnamon and nutmeg and just did straight salt and pepper for seasoning.
