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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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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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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Three days ago on June 30th we hit the “half way” point of the year. Geez…..where did the time go?? Half of 2009………gone! Time flies.

I know we’re smack in the middle of summer and many of us can get out of our normal routines and fall off the fitness wagon due vacations, family visits and who knows what else.

However, this “half way” point is a great time to take stock of where you are with regard to your health and fitness. Are you where you want to be weight-wise and health-wise? If not, what have you done (or not done!) in the first half of the year that you need to change in order to improve your health and fitness or drop some body fat? Would you like to be in better shape in December than you are now?

Well then, DO something about it! Don’t wait until the holidays this year to realize you’re still overweight, out of shape and needing to make some massive New Year’s Resolution in January. Take some action NOW. Take some steps right now to improve how you look and feel.

I’ve got a little freebie for you here that can help you focus and re-start your efforts towards feeling and looking better. It’s a page from my soon-to-be-released book, “Ready for Prime Time in Less Time: The Ultimate Get Slim Guide for Boomer Women”.

Remember a few posts ago I talked about that fact that what you focus on grows? Well, my little gift to you today is something I give all my San Jose personal training clients when they start with me. I included it in my book for boomer gals because it’s the best way I know how for getting you to focus on what you DO want! I’m giving it to you here, as it’s my way of nudging you to get focused and take action.

It’s a simple goal sheet that will help you organize your thoughts (what you want) and your actions (what you’ll do to get what you want). If you’re not sure what to do to get what you want, leave a comment here and I’ll do my best to help you!

You can download it by clicking HERE.

Now, get to it! What changes are you going to make in the second half of 2009 in order to arrive at 2010 looking and feeling younger, leaner and more fit????

Leave me a comment below and share with your fellow boomers what you’re going to do!

Committed to your success,

Becky

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A couple of posts ago, I let you in on something I do with my “Fit and Fabulous for Boomer Women” FitCamp that I run here in San Jose. Each month I have a theme for the camp–and I mention it a lot in class.

I guess I’m really just a teacher at heart. I’m continually trying to send them away with “take home” messages (as well as take home workouts, healthy snack ideas, etc. I guess I kind of go overboard with the teaching thing!). It’s my way of trying to help my campers get the results that they’re after. I talked about “Focus”, this month’s theme in an earlier post, but I wanted to share with you our previous themes as well, as I’m hoping they will help you as you work toward better health and fitness in your boomer years.

Last month’s them was CONSISTENCY. Whether we’re talking eating behaviors or exercise–consistency matters. Exercising for three days and then putting it off for three weeks won’t get you noticable results. Eating well for two days and then eating poorly for the next 5 won’t get your belly to flatten. What you do consistently (whether it’s good for you or not!) shapes your body.

My campers who are more consistent outside of class with healthy behavior changes are the ones that enjoy the best results. Consistency is key whether we’re talking weight loss, muscle development, or decreasing back pain. You have to do your exercises regularly, you also have to make consistent behavior changes. Consistency will pay off for you BIG TIME with lifetime results.

Notice I didn’t say perfection. I said consistency. You need to consistently work on this stuff (”stuff” being eating well most of the time,and sticking to some sort of exercise routine). I’m not a big fan of quick weight loss schemes, as they usually have you eating things or doing things that are hard to maintain over time (think: The Biggest Loser). However if you can consistently work towards better eating habits and exercising regularly instead of trying the next hair brained scheme to lose 25 pounds in 15 days, you’re going to have long lasting results. I believe consistency wins over “all or nothing” types of behaviors every time.

I use this theme of “consistency” to drive home the concept of a fitness lifestyle. It’s the choices that you make MOST OF THE TIME that are dictating how you look right now as you read this. If you’re not where you want to be physically right now, it’s due to consistently making poor choices with regard to your health and weight.

So, I ask you now, what can you begin to do consistently over the next few weeks to bring yourself to a higher level of fitness, or a lower level of body fat?? I’d love you to leave a comment so other boomers can read what their peers are going to do to take their fitness to the next level.

Committed to your success,

Becky

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This is one of my pet peeves with regard to exercise. I often see people doing ineffective exercises at the gym. In extreme cases, I worry people are going to hurt themselves. I’ve ranted here about this before. Now, I’m ranting about it at another website ( I’m an invited author there—honest!!!)

I’ve ranted about why boomer women may want to re-think utilizing an “all machine” workout. Don’t get me wrong, some “machine” exercises are okay (depends on the machine!), but by and large, getting off the machines is a good idea for those of us north of 40.

I explain why here: Becky rants on “all machine” workouts

Make it a great day,

Becky

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Well, there is nothing I know of that will maintain our youth forever, but as far as anti-aging nutrition goes, fish oil is at the top of the list!

Study after study shows that fish oil (and, more specifically the long-chain omega-3 fats DHA and EPA) can benefit us in so many ways. Based on scientific evidence, the American Heart Association (AHA) reports that the ingestion of fish and/or fish oil supplements can benefit us in the following ways:

-Reduce blood pressure
-Reduce triglyceride levels
-Reduce risk of cardiovascular disease
-Reduce inflammation
-Reduce the incidence of macular degeneration (an eye disorder)

These are only the top four benefits the AHA mentions as having “strong scientific evidence”. It’s the tip of the iceberg–the list of potential benefits from fish oil is several pages long!

We boomers are right smack in “mid-life” where a lot of life’s pains the rear (heart disease, high blood pressure, etc) start showing up. The evidence-based argument favoring fish oil in reducing the risk for these conditions is just too strong to ignore.

If you aren’t taking fish oil, I suggest you talk to your doctor about adding it in to your supplement regime. One word of caution: Folks who are allergic to fish or shellfish should not take fish oil capsules.

If you like fish, the best way to get omega-3 fatty acids is to eat fattier fish like salmon, sardines and mackerel. Trout is also high in both DHA and EPA.

If you don’t eat fish several times a week, a fish oil supplement may be in order.

What should you look for in a fish oil supplement?
-Look for a product containing Neptune Krill Oil. Neptune Krill Oil doesn’t give you “fish burp” or a fishy aftertaste, and reportedly has a higher antioxidant rating than other types of fish oil used for supplements.
-Look for a product that contains both EPA and DHA.
-Talk to your health care provider about the proper dosage of fish oil for your situation.

I use and recommend EFA-Icon from Prograde Nutrition for my Omega-3 supplement.

You can pick up some EFA icon at a discount right now!

Click here to get to the Prograde site. Once you’ve placed your order, put in the coupon code 012009 at checkout. You’ll save 10.9% off your entire Prograde order from now through midnight EST on Thursday, January 15th!

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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Whether you were an Obama supporter or not during the election process, I’d like you to consider adopting one of the phrases used during the campaign: “yes, we can”. In listening to his acceptance speech, and hearing the chant “yes, we can” over and over, I realized it’s a great one for us boomer women to stick in our heads (along with all the other thoughts running around in there!). It has nothing to do with politics, though, and everything to do with creating better fitness outcomes for ourselves.

We tell ourselves “we can’t” a lot:

• We can’t lose weight because we’re older now
• We can’t run anymore because we don’t have the lung capacity
• We can’t wear sleeveless shirts because of flabby arms
• We can’t touch our toes because our muscles have gotten too stiff
• We can’t exercise because we don’t have the time

Let’s change that self talk. As 40, 50 and 60 year old women today, we’re a LOT younger than our mothers and grandmothers were at our ages. Although we may not have the body of a 20 year old anymore, we certainly shouldn’t put ourselves out to pasture (verbally speaking!). Statistically speaking, there’s a good chance we’ll be around a long time.

So, let’s adopt the mantra, “yes, we can”.

Okay, all together ladies………….

• Can boomer women lose the weight that’s crept on over the last 10 years? Yes, we can!
• Can boomer women enjoy a fit active lifestyle, unencumbered by stiff muscles ? Yes, we can!
• Can boomer women touch their toes (and stand back up again!)? Yes, we can!
• Can boomer women do things to make them feel and look younger? Yes, we can!

Just like anything worth getting in life, these outcomes take COMMITMENT. They take a PLAN. They take CONSISTENCY.

Can we look and feel better next month than we do today? Yes, we can!

I’m committed to your fitness success. Are you?

Becky

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