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.
This workout from LiveExercise has both cardiovascular and conditioning exercises. It is done boot camp style.
Skip the static stretches at the beginning. Dynamic stretches (moving while you stretch) are better at the beginning of a workout, static stretches are better at the end.
You need a jump rope and 1 or 2 resistance bands. If you don't have a rope, jump in place. If you don't have a strap to put your band up high or low--do the exercises without the resistance or use dumb bells where you can.
On the sit ups--keep the elbows back and the feet on the floor. She is cheating big time by picking up her foot. If you can't come up without lifting your feet up, then only come up part way. If coming up all the way bothers your back, then only come up part way as well.
It is a 10 minute HIIT Tabata workout that has 3 high intensity exercises that are done for 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest. This is repeated for 6 rounds before moving onto the next exercise.
As a bonus, during the "rest" time, the instructor adds a second exercise for more intensity if you'd like.
Make sure you are lifting enough weight to feel the bicep curls, but not so much that you can't control them. A resistance band is definitely recommended here over dumbbells.
There is no warm up included. Please do that on your own.
I am taking some time off to get ready for Christmas and my new session coming up after the New Year. I hope you have a safe, happy and healthy Holiday Season! Plan to get fit(ter) in 2014!!!!
Today's workout comes from LiveExercise. It is a total body workout that is split into several parts. It starts off with 3 rounds of 4 exercises. The exercises are split into static holds and 15 reps moving through your range of motion.
Next, a timer gets set for 40 seconds and you perform 4 exercises for 10 seconds each doing as many reps as you can during that 10 seconds repeating this for 3 rounds without any rest in between for a total of 2 minutes of HIIT training.
Next, a ladder workout is done with wall ups and pushups. If the wall ups are too intense, hold a plank instead or put your feet up on and down on a bottom step or up on a coffee table or couch. You start with 10 reps and work down to 1, they work pretty fast-- (if this is too intense, start with 5 and go down from there).
Next, you will do some gluteal work. Doing 3 different exercises that target these muscles, 10 reps each, 2 rounds.
Finally, you will end with some core work--get ups--these are hard, but he breaks them down into steps (5 reps each) to make them easier--if you've never done these before, don't use any weight, just concentrate on keeping your arm and shoulder elevated.
Equipment used: optional mat, 2 heavy weights or heavy objects of the same weight, an optional resistance band, they give some other options to use things from around the house.
This is an intense workout. Work at your own speed and pace paying attention to your form. Modify when necessary. The video is 52 minutes, but the workout itself is only around 30.
The warm up they do is pretty minimal with some unnecessary static stretching. You're better off doing a longer warm up and skip the shoulder stretches (do arm circles instead) and make sure to warm up your back--squat down and roll up one vertebra at a time--do this a few times.
Do NOT do the the hurdler stretch they do at the end--really bad for your knees. Instead of bending the knee to bring the foot under you, bend it to the inside so the foot is toward the opposite inner thigh and lean forward with a flat back to stretch your hamstrings. To stretch your quads, go to your side and grab your foot, pushing your foot into your hand, flex your foot and pull your entire leg back until you get a good stretch to the front of your thigh (quads), switch sides. This was a full body workout, so make sure to stretch your chest, lower back, shoulders and arms as well.
