Yes, we’re getting older.  Yes, there may be a few more aches and pains or pops and creaks in our joints than there were 10 years ago.  Our joints are going to age as the years march on.  But, do we have to settle for getting pudgy and out of shape as we get older?  A lot of us in the boomer generation are doing just that, thinking it’s a natural part of aging,  but I submit to you it doesn’t have to be that way.

At this time in our lives, our hormones will come and go  (okay, admittedly, they’re pretty much “going” at our age!), and this will affect our metabolism, but we can’t blame it all on hormones.  Let’s be honest.  As you sit at your computer reading this, you’re living in the body you’ve EARNED. Good or bad—-you created it.

Although I am a fitness coach for people of all ages, I do have a contingent of Baby Boomer women in a my San Jose personal training practice, and I teach a boot camp for baby boomer women in San Jose as well. While helping Baby Boomer women lose weight, I find it interesting that our generation holds a number of weight loss myths near and dear to our hearts.

Here are my top three weight loss mistakes/myths held by the Baby Boomer generation:

1)    Do more cardio to lose more weight

Now, please don’t get me wrong.  There are a lot of benefits to cardiovascular exercise such as brisk walking, running, cycling, etc.    However, doing MORE cardio to lose more weight may be counterproductive, and there’s a more time efficient way to burn more calories:   Interval training. Interval training gives your body a metabolic boost that lasts hours after your workout is over.  Plus, an interval workout can be shorter than a long, drawn out lower intensity cardio workout, and it will yield better fat loss results for you.

2)    Eat a REALLY LOW calorie diet to lose more weight

Decreasing calorie intake to some obscene level  (it makes me hungry just thinking about it!) is a surefire way to mess up your metabolism and make your body shed muscle in order to survive.  Yes, you need to have a negative energy balance in order to shed body fat—but if you drop your calories too low for too long, your body will compensate by slowing down the rate at which it burns calories.

3)    Avoid strength training for fear of “bulking up”

This one really bugs me.  Most women just don’t have enough testosterone to get big, bulky muscles.  Women who don’t strength train will begin to lose muscle mass as they age and get fatter every year.  Women who DO strength train will have better posture, a higher resting metabolic rate, a leaner physique  as they age.

Are YOU holding on to one or more of the above false beliefs about what it takes to get slim and stay slim in middle age??

If you’re hosting a “spare tire” around your waist right now, and you see yourself in one or more of my “weight loss mistakes”, here’s your chance to bust that myth and start working on creating the “boomer” body you want!

Committed to your success,

Becky

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It’s Spring Break time in schools around the nation.  If you’ve got kids or grandkids, that could mean there may be a vacation in your future. Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean your workout has to go to “you-know-where” in a hand basket.

I recently took a trip to Mexico with my husband and we were able to get in short, intense workouts the majority of the days we were there.  We did the “intense” thing because we didn’t want to spend lots of time in the gym.  We got in the gym, worked hard, and got out quickly so that we could enjoy the rest of our day.  The shorter your time frame, the higher the intensity should be.

We specifically chose a hotel that had a gym, but I was intent on creating a video of a workout for you that doesn’t require a gym.  Although I do the workout on a tennis court, you could do it anywhere you can find some lines (a basketball court, a football field).

If you’re a tennis player, you’re in for a treat because the workout I’m demonstrating in the video here can help improve your game.  The drills I do not only burn calories and can act as “interval training” for you, they will also develop better foot work and agility on the tennis court if you practice them regularly.

When I make videos for you at home, my  dog, Noah, often makes a cameo appearance.  I didn’t have Noah on vacation with me, but you’ll never guess what walked across the path right as I was about to begin shooting the video for you!  I guess I’m just destined to have animal sidekicks in all my videos .

So, if you’re short on time and on location try this workout on for size.

Happy Spring!

Committed to your success,

Becky

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Yes, I know I’m a bit of a broken record when it comes to the concept of interval training.  You hear about the benefits of interval training from me over, and over and over again!

A national news report came out several days ago that essentially said a recent study has found that women who wish to maintain their weight as they age have to exercise at least an hour a day .  Those wishing to lose weight have to do more. Well, gee whiz——that’s encouraging (NOT!).

Okay, so I’m going to rant a little here.   I’m a former researcher.  I’ve designed, coordinated and executed human research studies.  Granted, I worked for NASA, and my studies were based around the space program and advanced life support systems, but my point is this:  One research study doesn’t tell the whole story  AND, you really have to look at the research design and the number of test subjects to get a good feel for what the results indicate, and how they can be extrapolated to the general public.

I’m going to pick on just one little thing with the research design to make my point here, and I’ll be done with my rant.

The women in the study that was quoted in the national news exercised at a moderate pace.  Well, there ya go.

If you want to lose weight, but you choose to  walk on a treadmill at 3.0 miles an  hour (this would most likely be a “moderate”, not too taxing workout for most readers of this blog), then, yes, you’ll need to walk for an hour or so to get a significant dent in your calorie burning for the day.  Same thing for a gentle workout on the stair climber, the elliptical trainer, or walking your dog. The “dent” in calorie utilization you’re making just isn’t that great.  I’m all for any exercise, and there are fabulous benefits to longer, more moderate exercise sessions.  However, if weight loss is your goal— long, moderately paced cardio workouts just aren’t the best method.

Now, I realize that higher intensity training isn’t for everyone, and I’m not advocating that every single workout be a “beat me, whip me” workout!  However, more than one research study has found that interval training lends better fat loss results than shorter, more moderate level workouts.

Here’s why:

-Shorter bursts of high intensity exercise allow you to work out harder (therefore burning more calories) due to the short time frame.

-High intensity interval training has been shown to create a significant post-exercise oxygen consumption. Read:   Your metabolic rate is elevated for several hours after your workout is over (not so with moderately paced workouts).

-Interval training trains your body to utilize fat for fuel more readily.

-Research indicates that interval training elicits hormonal shifts that favor fat utilization during exercise recovery.

-And my personal favorite:  You can (and should) do high intensity interval training for LESS time.

We’re all busy!   I vote for higher intensity and less time

So, please don’t get all in a tizzy about that news report that came out a few days ago.

If you eat a healthy diet that isn’t over-the-top in calories, you should be able to maintain your weight on LESS than 1 hour a day of exercise IF you incorporate some higher intensity workouts into your week.  It’s simply a matter of WHAT you choose to do in the time that you have.

Don’t believe me?  Here are some studies that prove my point:

Gray, AB et al (1993) Endocrine response to intense interval exercise.  European Journal of Applied Physiology/Occupational Physiology 66:366-371.

Haram, PM et al (2008). Aerobic interval training vs. continuous m oderate exercise in the metabolic syndrome of rates artificially selected for low aerobic capacity.  Cardiovascular Research 81:  723-732.

Tabata, I et al (1995).  Metabolic profile of high-intensity intermittent exercises.  Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 29(3):390-395.

Tremblay A., et al (1994).  Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle.  Metabolism 43:814-818.

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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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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It’s a beautiful, sunny day here in San Jose and I just finished cardio interval workout in my backyard. It was fun, simple and used only a jump rope, so I thought I’d share it with you.

I warmed up on my stationary bike inside my house for about 5 minutes, then grabbed my jump rope and some water and headed out the door. Here’s what I did:

Jump rope- 2 minutes
Body weight squats 45 seconds–rest 15 seconds
Jump rope- 2 minutes
Fast lateral shuffles * 45 seconds–rest 15 seconds
Jump rope- 2 minutes
Toe taps on my back porch step 45 seconds–rest 15 seconds
Jump rope- 2 minutes
Walking lunges 45 seconds–rest 15 seconds

* I shuffled laterally about 15 ft right then left as fast as I could
** These are fast alternating toe taps on a step–think of a soccer player tapping a soccer ball

I repeated this routine 2 times through, cooled down a bit and then stretched.

If you’re a beginner, simply shorten the jumping intervals as well as the calisthenic intervals.

I varied my jump style when I was jumping rope so that I didn’t get bored or jar my knees too much, and I drank water about every 5 minutes or so during the rest period. If you don’t have a jump rope, you can just do the jump roping movements without a rope, or jog/skip around your back yard. BTW: I highly recommend adding a jump rope to your exercise equipment arsenal. It’s a great cardio and bone building exercise! You can get inexpensive jump ropes at Perform Better.

This workout took me a little over 20 minutes from start to finish and the time just flew by! Changing your activity every few minutes (and varying the intensity) really helps make the time go by quickly AND you burn more calories than if you just hopped on a treadmill and walked at a moderate pace.

Make it a great day!

Yours in health,

Becky

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I’m taking a break between my “weight loss tips” series to bring you an important announcement.

You’ve got a wonderful opportunity to pick up some cutting edge fitness, weight loss and nutrition information for FREE! I was invited by Dax Moy, one of the top fitness trainers in the UK, to participate in his second annual “12 days of Fitness” holiday give away program.

He’s brought together over 250 top fitness, nutrition and physical therapy pros from all around the world to give you some of their cutting edge programs, advice, and workouts–at NO charge. Of course, my contribution to the gifts will center around YOU–the boomer woman. I’ll be sharing my best bone-building workouts, some great posture exercises and of course, some great weight loss tips as well.

Please see below for the press release Dax Moy released just hours ago. Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post so that you can sign up to get all these free fitness goodies for yourself! As soon as I finish this post, I’m signing up! I understand there will be some excellent nutrition information for the taking–and I’m always up for the latest in nutrition!

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Leading Fitness Experts Give The Gift Of Health To World With Biggest Ever Health and Fitness Giveaway This Festive Season

On Wednesday, December 10, Dax Moy and over 250 of the world’s top fitness professionals will open the doors on the World’s largest ever health and fitness gift-giving, set to generate positive health for over 500,000 people this Christmas

The program, called ’12 days of fitness’ initially began when the UK’s leading fitness professional, Dax Moy, wanted to express his gratitude to his clients and offered them a gift a day for 12 consecutive days as his twist of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Last year Moy shared this idea with fellow fitness professional, Pat Rigsby, and they expanded the 12 Days of Fitness to include not only their own clients but to the world at large and gave fitness gifts to over 200,000 people who signed up at the site at http://www.12daysoffitness.com.

This year, with the help of 250 of the world’s top personal trainers, nutritionists, therapists and specialist fitness experts, the 12 days of fitness is set to become the biggest fitness gift giveaway in history with expected downloads of over 500,000 between the 10th and 22nd of December. “There’s never been another health event like this, where so many people stand to benefit from the expertise of true professionals for free” says Moy who has been working flat out to make this year’s 12 days a success.

“Fitness professionals from around the globe have contributed hundreds of e-books, reports, videos, meal plans and other free gifts in their hope of making 2009 the year that anyone, regardless or their location, financial situation or past failures, can finally reach their fitness goals and make those New Year’s Resolutions a reality once and for all.”

Perhaps the best part of the 12 Days of Fitness giveaway is that regardless of a persons health or fitness goals, there are going to be gifts specifically designed to help them achieve success.

“We’ve received gifts designed for busy moms, elite athletes, bodybuilders, back pain sufferers, baby boomers, and pretty much anyone else you can imagine covering everything from fat loss to rehabilitation and everything in between.

There literally will be something for everyone this year and all of it free, making it without a doubt, one of the most important gifts anyone will receive this year. After all, what’s more important than health?”

The 12 days of gift giving starts December 10th but those interested are urged to visit
http://www.12daysoffitness.com right away to sign up for their free gifts.

Once enrolled, participants will get a daily email telling them how to access each of the new gifts that are being added each day as well as a reminder on how to access previous gifts.

To guarantee a healthy start to 2009, simply visit http://www.12daysoffitness.com today.

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This is the first in a series of posts on the best things baby boomer women (actually women of ALL ages!) can do to improve their fat loss efforts. In our efforts to get and stay fit, we often do some things that may be counter-productive. Today’s tip for accelerated weight loss is……

Switch your “steady state” and low level cardio to INTERVAL TRAINING
Interval training is a superior form of exercise for fat loss for many reasons. Before I get into these reasons, let’s first define interval training: Interval training can take many forms, but it is usually described as a method of exercise that alternates periods of very hard effort with periods of easy to moderate effort. When I refer to “steady state” exercise, I’m referring to a cardio workout where you get your heart rate up to a moderate level, and keep it there. An example of this would be running on a track or on a treadmill at the same speed for your entire workout.

Examples of interval training:
-Segments of fast walking interspersed with segments of moderate walking
-Segments of running (hard effort) interspersed with segments of slower running (moderate effort).

Interval training can be done with walking, running, biking or swimming programs as well as on cardiovascular machines such as treadmills and stair climbers.

The benefits of interval training for women who want to shed body fat are tremendous! Here are just a few:
-Greater improvements in fitness
-More calories burned per session
-Greater fat loss
-Higher metabolic “afterburn” (you’re still burning calories after the exercise is over!)

Research hasn’t given us the ideal hard work/moderate work ratio yet. I suggest you mix it up. One day you might do 30 seconds hard/90 seconds moderate, and another day, you might just do an interval based on distance (for instance, on a track you might go really fast on the straight parts and recover on the curved parts). With interval training, the sky is the limit! You could have a different workout each and every time. This really challenges your body, which is another way to keep stimulating it to improve. If we always do the same thing when we work out, our body adapts. Interval training provides a wonderful change and really fires up our metabolism.

Interval training can be difficult, so it’s best to start it slowly. A great way to start an interval training program is to exchange an interval workout for just one “steady state” cardio workout a week, and then work up from there. Start with just 4 or 5 intervals the first time you try this and work up slowly to 8-10 intervals per workout.

Another great thing about interval training is that you can do a much shorter workout and still get wonderful benefits from it. This is one of the greatest features of interval training for busy women like us, as far as I’m concerned!

If I could only give one tip to a boomer women on how to spur on fat loss, interval training would be it. I encourage you to give it a try!

Stay tuned for my next fat loss tip for boomer women.

Becky

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I was at the gym early this morning doing a cardio interval workout on the stair climber and saw something really interesting. I see a lot of interesting things at the gym, and from time to time, I’ll pass them along to you to illustrate a point.

In front of the stair climbers at my gym is a row of treadmills. In front of me on one of these treadmills this morning was a woman who appeared to be in her early to mid-sixties. I don’t know this woman. I’ve actually never seen her before. She appeared to by in good health, was perhaps 25 pounds overweight at most, and did not walk as if she had any type of physical disability.

First of all, kudos to her for being at the gym and moving her body. For all I know, it could’ve been her first day at the gym. Any movement at all is better than nothing.

Now for the reason for this post: This woman was wearing a nice pair of black patent leather flats (with about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch heel) while she walking on the treadmill. I’m no shoe expert, but they looked a lot like Ferragamo shoes. Maybe Cole Haans. In any event–nice shoes. Really nice shoes (like, about $300+ nice). This caught my eye. So I kept observing her.

I was able to read the speed display on her treadmill: 1.9 miles per hour, which she increased to 2.0 mph a little later on (FYI: When we are “strolling”, most of us are walking at about 2.0 to 2.6 miles per hour). She had on a nice pair of capri pants and a shirt with collar on it. They looked to be made of a breathable fabric, so I give her points for being dressed somewhat appropriately with regard to clothing. She also wore beautiful, large gold earrings and a lovely, thick (probably an inch wide) heavy gold bracelet as she worked out. She looked just great. Definitely has nice taste in jewelry. She looked very put together and very comfortable (except for the shoe part–I could see her heel being rubbed by the back of the stiff leather shoes).

So, what’s the problem?

First off, the shoes. The shoes she had on, although very nice shoes (really nice shoes), were absolutely wrong for a workout. Her shoes had no right to be on a treadmill! Good, supportive athletic shoes and quality absorbent socks are a must. The only place we should see a “loafer” type shoe in a gym is in the locker room for after your shower. Never, ever, on a treadmill or anything else in the gym. Never.

Second, the workout intensity. Again, I don’t know this woman. It’s possible she’s just getting back into the gym after a health issue. If so, bless her for getting herself to the gym and for exercising. But assuming no health or mobility limitations–the 1.9 miles per hour is just not going to effect change for her with regard to her fitness or fatness level (could be beneficial for stress reduction, though). Granted, any exercise is better than none. But we need to break a sweat and exert ourselves to some degree to force our body to adapt and change.

Frankly, the speed at which anyone walks on a treadmill isn’t my point. The point is–how hard are you working when you exercise? A good cardio workout should get you to the point where your breathing is somewhat rapid and you’re breaking a sweat. Whether it takes a treadmill speed of 2.5 miles per hour or 8.5 miles per to do that is irrelevant. This woman in front of me on the treadmill today just looked too comfortable. As my friend and fitness colleague, BJ Gaddour, in Wisconsin says “If you work out comfortably, you’re gonna look comfortable” (think soft and squishy).

My third and final point: Leave the bangles and dangling earrings at home. I don’t own a lot of fine jewelry. But what I do own doesn’t go to the gym with me (except sometimes my wedding ring). Heavy, cumbersome fine jewelry doesn’t belong in the gym. You’re there to work, sweat and move your body. Your shoes and clothing need to be up to the task.

We boomer women are very busy women. We need to use our time wisely. When you exercise, make your time count for something. Burn some serious calories. Lift some weight that really tires out your muscles. Ladies, we may be older, but most of use aren’t that fragile.

Get into it with your workouts and break a sweat. Get a little breathless. This is how we keep the “middle age” inches from creeping up. We don’t do it by walking on a treadmill at a terribly slow pace wearing designer shoes and solid gold jewelry.

Committed to your success,

Becky

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Some women tell me that it gets harder for them to shed unwanted weight as they get older. There’s no doubt that pre- and post-menopausal hormonal changes can put a wrench in a woman’s weight loss efforts. However, getting older isn’t a good reason to allow ourselves to get fatter. I believe that many women over 40 struggle to lose weight because we’re approaching it all wrong. Sometimes we just need to “tweak” the program a bit.

Many of us “boomer” women have lived through some amazingly horrid diets and preposterous exercise programs over the years. Remember the ladies “spas” back in the 1970’s that had machines with belts that were supposed to jiggle the fat off of our rears? Remember the grapefruit diet? If only they had worked………

But I digress. My point today is we boomer women have been brought up with a lot of misinformation about proper nutrition and exercise for weight loss. Even today, I hear my personal training clients and boot camp participants say that their doctors are recommending they add several hours of moderate cardio to their week in order to lose weight. That’s a huge time commitment. Now, I don’t think there is anything inherently bad with long, moderate cardio workouts, per se. But boomer women need to understand one major flaw in the “do tons of cardio to lose weight” mantra. Cardio does indeed use calories while you exercise. And then you’re done. Muscle, however, uses calories while you exercise AND all day long. Muscle is your metabolism.

Women of a certain age should do strength training exercises to lose weight! Did I just say that?? Yep. I did. Many women cringe when they hear me say this, as they believe they will “bulk up”. They cringe again when I show them how to do a proper squat (”won’t squats make my butt bigger??”). No, they won’t. They will make your butt stronger, and they will help you burn more calories all day long, when combined with other full body strength training exercises.

Should you ditch cardio workouts? Absolutely not. Cardio workouts should be part of a well rounded exercise program. I prefer short cardio interval workouts over long, steady-state cardio workouts, though. I’ll share some tips on cardio interval workouts in my next post. For now, hit the free weight section of your gym and pump some iron to keep the post menopausal body fat from creeping onto your body!

Need some help getting started?? Look up in the right hand corner of this page–there’s a workout there for you. Just fill in your first name and your primary e-mail address and I’ll send you a quick upper body workout you can do at home or at the gym!

Becky

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