I’ve been invited to be a guest on a live teleseminar with Gregory Ann Cox, this Thursday, May 20th, at 1 pm Pacific Time, 4 pm Eastern Standard Time.  Gregory Ann, the woman behind the popular health website, www.midlifewithavengeance.com, is on a mission to reverse the rate of diabetes and heart disease among “boomer” women.

She’s asked me to spend about an hour with her to talk about the ways in which exercise can benefit boomer women, and how many of us have some outdated ideas on the best way to lose weight through exercise. We’ve titled the teleseminar: “The Exercise That Works Best and Fastest To Get and Keep You Fit — and Why”.  Curious??  Come join us!

If you know me at all, you know there will be some myth-busting happening! I always give you the straight scoop.

The teleseminar is free, and you’re sure to learn some great ideas on how to get better weight loss results in LESS time.

You can sign up for the teleseminar here:

ExerciseForMidlifeWomen

Talk to you on the call!

Becky

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Perhaps it’s the colder Fall weather, but I’ve been hearing a lot lately about “achey” knees.  We boomer gals can have sore knees for a variety of reasons.  Unfortunately, sore knees can sometimes affect our ability to exercise, or make us feel that we’re limited in what we can do for exercise. Not a good situation for those of us trying to manage our weight! Strangely enough, though, exercise is sometimes just what we need to improve the comfort level of our joints! There are a lot of situations that can cause knee pain, so it’s always best to see a doctor to check your particular situation.

I put a short video together to show you my top 4 exercises for strengthening the thighs and the hips.  I incorporate a number of these exercises into my personal training programs and my boot camp for boomers in San Jose. Strong thigh and hip muscles can help support arthritic knees by better stabilizing the joint.  Many of us boomer gals tend to be weak in our deep hip muscles, so one of the exercises targets just that area.

So, if you suffer from “boomeritis” of the knees, check with your doctor first to see if these exercises are safe for you, and then give them a try!

Click here to see the video:  Knee strengthening exercises for boomers

Committed to your success,

Becky

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Want to look younger?  Stand taller!

Next to wrinkles and being overweight, nothing ages us more than poor posture!  Many of us sit a lot during the day, often in front of a computer.  This shortens our chest muscles, brings our shoulders and head forward and rounds our upper back.  Yuck.

Although training and strengthening your postural muscles will do wonders for your posture and your appearance, so will training your brain!  Simply being mindful of pulling your shoulder blades down and back on your ribs, and lifting your chin and chest can make a huge difference.   Part of creating better posture is being aware of yours at all times.

I’ve put together for you four exercises that will help you strengthen muscles responsible for holding your body in proper posture. The exercises I’ve listed are not an exhaustive list of exercises you could do to improve your posture.  However, they’re a great start, and should be a part of a full body strength training program.  If you add these exercises into your workout, you will see and feel the difference!

Wall squat with shoulder blade squeeze

Starting Position:  Lean against a wall with your feet about 18 inches from the wall. Place your rear end, your shoulders and your head on the wall.   Slide down the wall a bit so that your knees are slightly bent and you’re in a semi-squat position. Put your arms up over your head in a “V” position as pictured

Action: Hold your semi-squat position as you squeeze your shoulder blades and bring your hands down to the level of your ears.  Try to keep as much of your arms on the wall as you can.

Add it into your routine this way: Perform one set of 10-12 repetitions and build up to 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

Straight arm pull back

Starting Position:  Loop exercise tubing around a pole, post or sturdy tree (you can also use an adjustable pulley system at a gym).  Put arms in front of you, palms down.  Step away from the pole until the band is just getting tense.

Action: With straight arms, pull the band back until your hands are just behind your rear.

Be sure to: Keep your arms straight and your abs braced.  Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull your arms back.

Add it into your routine this way: Perform one set of 10-12 repetitions.  Work up to 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

Prone Back Extensions

Starting Position:  Lie face down on a mat with your arms folded and your head resting on your arms

Action: Simultaneously lift your feet and your shoulders off the ground

Be sure to: Take care not to over-arch your back .  If this bothers your low back, try this just with the shoulders off the ground.  You can put the “feet up” part of the exercise back into your program a little later on.

Add it into your routine this way: Perform one set of 10-12 repetitions and work up to 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions over time.

Good posture requires strong abdominal muscles, so a good posture improvement program should involve something for the abs.  You’ve seen “the plank”, one of my favorite core conditioning exercises, described in an earlier post about core conditioning for baby boomers, but I’ll show you again here.  It’s a definite “add” to just about anyone’s fitness program!

The plank

Modified plank

Starting Position:  Lie face down on a mat with your elbows right underneath your shoulders.

Action: Bring your hips off the mat and hold yourself up either at your elbows and toes (regular plank) or at your knees and your toes (modified plank).

Be sure to: Pull your abdominal muscles up toward your spine.

Add it into your routine this way: Pull up into the plank and hold for about 20 seconds.  Release and repeat.  Work up to longer hold times.

So, let’s review……….

-Stand taller

-Shoulder blades down and back on the ribs

-Throw a few posture-specific exercises into your regular workout

………….you’ll look and feel younger within weeks!

Committed to your success,

Becky

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It might sound a bit odd that a fitness coach is telling you NOT to exercise on machines at the gym.  But, hear me out first.  It’s not an “all or nothing” suggestion.  I see many, many women at the club where I exercise going from machine to machine when they do their strength training.  it’s certainly better than sitting on the couch at home–but I’d like to see them venture off those machines for at least a few exercises–and here’s why:

Machines control your range of motion

Sounds like a good thing, right?  Not really.  Machines often eliminate a lot of work on your part.  This is great for beginners and frail individuals, but once you’re past the beginner stage—pick up some dumbbells or use cables/pulleys attached to a weight stack.  You need to be in control of your movement, activating lots of muscle in each movement.

Lots of machines put you in a seated position

I like to see my clients do most of their exercises in a standing position (of course there are exceptions here, like push ups!).  Standing while working with weights, pulleys or bands loads your skeleton (good for bone health), requires you to engage your core muscles more, and challenges your balance.

Many machines isolate one muscle group

Our muscles rarely work in isolation. I’m a proponent of using functional, multi-joint exercises in strength workouts (if weight loss or general fitness is the goal). Although there’s nothing wrong with supplementing a good workout with exercises that isolate a muscle group (such as a biceps curl), I develop workouts for my personal training clients in San Jose that are chock full of exercises that use several joints at once and mimic real-life movements (examples:  squats, lunges, and assisted pull-ups). In fact, just today in my Fit and Fabulous over 40 class, I had my group perform a squat with an elastic band anchored low in a door frame, and as they came out of the squat, they performed a rowing motion with the band.  They worked their thighs, their back, their arms and their core in that one exercise! Performing exercises that involve movement around several joints is beneficial for you because you use lots of muscles at once (think: calorie burn!!), and many multi-joint exercises require you to engage your core muscles as well.

So, if you exercise at a gym and your workout is all based around strength training machines, grab the nearest certified personal trainer and have them teach you some new exercises using dumbbells or the machines with pulleys and cables.  You’ll improve your overall function, help maintain your bones, work your postural muscles and burn more calories!

Committed to your success,

Becky

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I am happy to report that I did another “on the road” vacation workout for you when I visited Holland, Michigan this summer to attend my nephew’s wedding. The wedding was in August, but it took me awhile to get the darn video footage out of my Flip camera and into my new Mac. Seems that the editing software I was using has been upgraded about 4 times since I last bought a computer. Needed to go back to the Apple store for a few lessons!

Many boomers are fortunate enough to be retired empty nesters (negative on both counts for me at this point) who have the time and discretionary income to do a little more traveling. As a professional fitness trainer, I hear all too often about how my training clients and boot campers don’t get their workouts in when they’re on vacation. Now, I don’t expect perfect adherence to a supportive nutrition plan and exercise regime when a customer of mine is traveling, but I am here to tell you you CAN get a workout in when you’re away from home. So, I try to film a “workout on the fly” when I am away from home to give you ideas on what you can do with no advanced planning and no equipment. It’s really fun to get out there and see what you can dream up!

I show you in the video below how to create a “workout on the fly” while you’re away. Things you come across such as benches, curbs, bike racks, playgrounds, or even walkways become the subject of higher intensity “intervals” between segments of “recovery” walking, jogging or running. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced exerciser, there is something you can do outdoors or indoors while you’re away without visiting the hotel gym. It’s actually kind of fun!

Check it out here:

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I’m usually a pretty happy, positive person. Yet, every so often, I go off on a little rant. This is one of those times. I’m a little cranky. So, as Joan Rivers would say, “Can we talk?”.

My pet peeve of the day? Why aren’t more women over the age of 40 lifting weights? I hear time and again about how we peri- and post-menopausal women are getting all fat and frumpy. Well, here’s what I think: The ones who are getting fat and frumpy are not lifting weights.

I’d also bet that a good number of the heavy ones are doing some sort of low intensity exercise (like walking the dog) several times a week, feeling that they’ve got the “exercise” in their life covered. Wrong. All that low level stuff is wonderful for stress reduction, quality time with friends and pets, to get your circulation going and to get your joints moving. But for fat loss or for muscle development? Nope.

So, my crankiness started today when I overheard a conversation between two fifty something women during which one woman said to the next woman: “My weight is up so I’m going to have to start walking more and start that low calorie diet again”. Yeesh. She’ll probably look the same come December 1st. What would I have loved to hear? How about “I’d better sign up for that cardio kick boxing class at the club in order to ramp up my workouts”, or “I think I need a few sessions with a trainer to learn how to lift free weights and build a little calorie burning muscle”. Ummmmm…….only in my dreams.

Here’s the crux of my rant: Some boomer women still hang on to the idea that they’re “too old” to do certain forms of exercise or that they’ll bulk up by lifting weights. Wrong on both counts. There may be exercises that some women in their 50’s or 60’s aren’t fit enough to do (yet), but we’re not that fragile. And, we’re NOT going to bulk up by lifting weights. Save for a few women with severe musculoskeletal disorders, all women can and should lift weights .

Studies show that strength training slows the aging process, boosts your mood and boosts your metabolism by laying down additional muscle over time. Heck, I’m sold on the first benefit alone. Slow down my aging process? Where do I sign up??!!!! I’m in.

I believe higher intensity exercise (preferably designed into an interval training program) plus lifting weights is the secret to living a vibrant and healthy life as a 50+ woman. However, low calorie dieting and “more cardio” seems to be the manta of women over 50 who want to lose weight.

My suggestion for a new mantra for the new “enlightened” boomer woman?……

“I want to be lean, toned and vibrant. Hand over the weights and give me a side order of intervals”.

Okay, I’ll stop ranting now.

I’ll be back to my sunny, positive self in my next post.

Promise.

Committed to your success,

Becky

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Supertrainer Val Fujii, my special guest in my last video, alluded to “power” being important when we chatted after his boomer workout in El Dorado Hills. I think the topic of POWER deserves it’s own blog post. Thanks for the idea, Val!

What is power? Power is the rate at which a movement is performed. As we age, a few things happen that can slow our movement down, namely:

1). A decrease in muscle mass
2). A decrease in muscle strength
3). A decrease in the speed at which our muscle fibers can contract

The result is that our muscles become smaller, weaker, and slower as we age (unless we DO something about it, of course!).

If you’ve read enough of my blog posts, you know I’m a serious supporter of women lifting weights to maintain muscle mass. I usually talk about this in relation to the metabolism boosting effects of weight training for women. There are functional benefits to weight training, too, and that’s where power comes in.

We need strong legs to get up out of a chair without assistance, we need strong legs to hoist ourselves up long flights of stairs at the ballpark, and we need a strong core and upper body to get that dang carry-on case that is packed to the hilt into that overhead bin on the airplane! These activities require not only strength, but power–the ability to move quickly and with force (just try getting out of a low, soft couch in slow motion, and you’ll see what I mean!).

A well-designed and regularly executed strength training program will help stave off age-related decreases in muscle mass and muscle strength, but you can also design your strength training program with power development in mind. It’s really easy and something I suggest you try on a few exercises each time you do your strength workout.

To improve your power in activities of daily living, train with power during your workout by putting the element of speed into some of your exercises.

Here are a few ideas:

If you do squats (or a leg press at the gym): Lower yourself slowly, and then accelerate out of the bent leg position and straighten your legs quickly. If you counted it out, it might be like this: Down for 3 counts, up on the 4th count. By doing the exercise this way, you’re forcing your muscles to contract quickly on the way up out of the squat or leg press.

If you do single leg step ups: Jump up on a low step (4-6 inches) with both feet simultaneously and then step off one foot at a time.

If you do dumbbell shoulder presses: Press up for one count, lower the dumbbells for 3 counts.

One note of caution, power training is NOT to be undertaken by beginner exercisers! Learn the basics first, and then incorporate power into some of your exercises some of the time. Mix it up. Perhaps one day you do power squats, and the next time you exercise you do power shoulder presses.

I tend to favor power training with lower body exercises with my Bay Area personal training clients because I believe they’re the most valuable functionally, but we need power in our upper body as well ( to push stuff over our heads, for example) so don’t neglect putting some power into your upper body pushing and pulling exercises.

You boomer gals who strength train and incorporate some power training moves into your workouts are going to be far better off in twenty years than your counterparts who are avoiding exercise all together.

My guess is you’re gonna look younger, too!

Now go out there and put some POWER into a few of your strength training exercises!

If you’re already incorporating power into your workouts, leave a comment here and share your exercises and experiences!

Committed to your success,

Becky

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I recently visited El Dorado Hills, California, where one of my colleagues teaches a “boomer” fitness class. I thought it would be fun to drop in on his class and see how he keeps the boomer population in shape in his neck of the woods.

With his permission, I got some video clips of Val’s boomers in action. Wow, what a workout! He’s got all the elements we boomers need in a workout: strength, cardiovascular endurance, balance, core stability, and one element that really deserves a blog post and video of it’s own: POWER. (Power is the rate at which you perform a movement. I’ll go into detail on power and why we boomers need to address power in our workouts in a future post, as it really deserves a post and video explanation of its own!)

Take a sneak peak at this lively group in action. There are lots of take-aways for you in this video. If you see some exercises in it you’re not doing—-add them into your workout! I interview Val briefly after my sneak peak of his class, and he lays out exactly what baby boomers should incorporate into their workouts, so make sure to watch the end of the video.

?

Oh, and a little P.S. : Although Val bills this class as a “boomer” workout, one of the participants let me know after class that she’s in her 80’s! She kept up with the “younger” crowd with no problem. I want to be like her when I grow up!

Thanks to the Boomers at the Four Seasons Community in El Dorado Hills, California for allowing me to be a “fly on the wall” at their class.

Make it a great day!

Becky

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It seems that you can’t walk through a gym or read a fitness magazine these days without seeing or hearing the term “core conditioning” or “core training”.

So what is all the hype about “core” training? More importantly – does it help whittle away your “meno-pot”?

Well……….yes. And no. You see, you can do core exercises all day and never see much of a change in your waist measurement. The reason? There may be a nice layer of body fat over those newly toned abdominal muscles! Unfortunately, doing crunches or abdominal stabilization exercises doesn’t get rid of the body fat over the muscles you’re working (don’t shoot the messenger, okay?).

A well designed core conditioning program, will, however, create a firmer, stronger mid-section. If your abdominal muscles are very de-conditioned before beginning a core training program, there’s a chance that your waistline may decrease in size a bit after 6-8 weeks of consistent training. But again, body fat reduction is key in slimming your waistline–and you need more than a core conditioning program to lose body fat (see my previous posts archived under “Interval Training” for fat loss information).

What exactly do we mean by “core conditioning”?
Many people think core conditioning consists of a bunch of abdominal exercises. I consider a true core conditioning program to be one that not only strengthens the abdominal muscles, but also the back, butt and hip muscles (strong hips lend support to the lower back). At the top of my list are exercises that force the back or the abs to stabilize you. Therefore, I’m not a fan of just doing a lot of crunches. In fact, I do very few crunches in my boot camp workouts and personal training programs in San Jose.

A good core conditioning program works the muscles that extend your spine. It works the muscles that keep your pelvis properly aligned underneath your spine. It works your abs the way they most often function–as trunk stabilizers.

As a woman over 40, you really must train your core muscles as part of your regular workout routine because it will improve your posture, decrease your chances of low back pain and increase your functionality in activities of daily living. Everyday motions such as lifting, squatting, reaching, twisting and bending will become less challenging after strengthening your core. If your body fat is low enough, core training will also help you create a great-looking midsection!

How can you strengthen your core?
I’m going to leave you with a few photos of some of my favorite core exercises below. But here’s something you can do right now as you read this: Pull your belly button in toward your spine, not by simply sucking in your gut, but by contracting your abdominals. Do you feel it? I call that “bracing”. Now make it a habit to do this exercise any time you sit. Like on the drive to work…at work…on the drive home – you get the idea.

There are many, many great exercises you can do to strengthen your core. Here are a few of my favorites to get you started. Do them 3-4 times a week for best results.

Back extensions

Starting position

Ending position
Perform 2 sets of 10 repetitions

The Plank

This is a modified version for beginners. Hold this position for 10-30 seconds. Perform it 2-3 times. and increase your hold time as you get stronger

This is a traditional plank. Hold this position for 10-60 seconds. Perform it 2-3 times. Do whatever length of hold you can, and work up from there.

The Bridge

Hold for 30-45 seconds and repeat 2-3 times.

Standing core rotations

Beginning position

Ending position

Stand at a right angle to a pulley system at your gym or use medium strength exercise tubing with handles. I’m using tubing here (anchored by one of my teenagers off camera!), but it’s kind of hard to see. Using the muscles in your mid-section, rotate your torso away from the base point of the pulley or tubing. Complete 10-12 repetitions on one side, then repeat on the other side.

A strong core will make you look better, feel better and function better!

Do you have a favorite core conditioning exercise? Leave me a comment here and tell me what it is!

Committed to your success,

Becky

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Summer vacation time is just around the corner. I hear many people tell me that they get out of the workout mode when they travel. It doesn’t have to be this way! I recently took a trip to Southern California with my family and created a great workout “on the fly”. It was a lot of fun. Try something like this on your next trip out of town. You don’t need a gym and you don’t need equipment!

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