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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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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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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If you’re in the San Jose, CA area, please make sure to check out the press release below that announces my newest camp for “boomer” ladies:

Baby Boomers. They’re not planning to “get old” without a fight. But how does a Baby Boomer battle a slowing metabolism and an expanding waistline? Not through long, moderate cardio workouts and extremely low calorie diets according to local fitness expert, Becky Williamson.

“Women from the Boomer era have grown up with the idea that hours of moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise and eating as little as possible is the way to stay trim. I think we actually screwed up our metabolisms by following that advice” says Williamson, an Exercise Physiologist and Baby Boomer herself. “Women have sacrificed a lot of calorie-burning muscle by chronic low-calorie dieting and staying away from strength training due to the fear of “bulking up”.

Frustrated with seeing so many over-forty women do all the wrong things in order to get slim, Williamson has created a fitness camp for women over 40 to train them to do exercises that will boost their metabolism. “Muscle IS your metabolism”, Williamson explains. I’ve created a format that pairs strength training exercises done in rapid succession with short bouts of cardiovascular exercise. One of the best things about this format is that I can give women a strength AND cardiovascular workout in about 40 minutes. That’s a lot better than an hour and a half at the gym! “

Recent studies have shown that bursts of higher intensity exercise followed by brief recovery exercise may indeed be more advantageous for body fat loss than longer, more moderate intensity exercise. Short bouts of higher intensity exercise isn’t for everybody, but Williamson believes that with proper form and by building up fitness slowly, just about anybody can benefit from this type of training.

Women over 40 in the Bay Area will get their first chance to experience Williamson’s unique program this November in Willow Glen. The “Fit and Fabulous Fit Camp for Women” will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays in November from 6:30-7:15 am November 4th through November 20th at St. Francis Episcopal church located at 1205 Pine Ave. Tuition for the 6 class camp is $90 and includes handouts on nutrition and weekly email support from Williamson.

Those interested in learning more about the program can log on to www.lifesportfitness.net/FitFab/index.html for more information.
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Okay, there you go ladies! If you’re in my neck of the woods, I’ve got a special class coming up in November just for YOU!

Committed to your success,

Becky

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