Home Gym Verses a Facility? Pro's and Con's

The new year is just around the corner and this is when many of us vow to change our eating and fitness habits.  Sadly only a small percentage of those who start into a regular fitness program come January first will still be committed to it 'regularly' if at all by the end of March.  As with anything in life if you are not doing it because you 'want' to and do it because you feel you have to, it takes the fun out of it.  Some people will find a type of situation perhaps at a gym, a regular exercise class or setting up a home gym that fits into their lives and makes it easy for them and they look forward to their time committed to their goal for health and well being.

The decision to joint a gym, or perhaps set up a gym at home is one of personal choice.  This hinges on you as an individual and how you function and your schedule.  You need to sit down and weigh out the obvious pro's and con's.  Ask yourself the following questions:

1/ Will I take the time to travel to the gym, does my schedule allow for this?

Most gyms are open extended hours and some even with 24 hour access where parking is well lit and there is camera survellience so you should be perfectly safe.

2/ Do I have the space for a full home gym? 

While resistance training is ideal, you can use your body weight for resistance or have some resistance bands that will store easily.  It is very possible to work out at home with some simple pieces and a small space.

These are typical road blocks people will throw up when they are researching their new route to fitness.  Some people need the music, people, selection of machines, classes and free weights to keep them coming back.  They have choice and selection at a gym and friendly supportive faces smiling and some to watch over and answer questions or offer assistance.   Others don't feel comfortable in a gym setting and prefer to use their own space, moving at their own pace and able to go 'do their thing' without much planning or forethought.

The main thing is for you to feel good about your environment and want to keep taking part in your program .  If it meets your needs and you are able to continue to make it part of your routine then you have made the right choice.  Giving up would be the bad choice.

Over 40 and Need to Whittle Your Middle?

We will tend to carry weight in new places as we 'mature' and some will be based on genetics and some on our activity, or shall we say 'INactivity'. Have you ever heard someone say they are trying to lose weight on your midsection or thighs? Well all I can say is 'good luck with that!'. When you lose weight you will drop it all over your body, you can't pick and choose. To trim down around the midsection there are three areas to address:

1/ Cardiovascular exercise at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.  If you can increase your intensity, or perhapsy switch your machine of choice, or do an interval where you push your self for 2 minutes then step back for one.  These techniques will assist in burning calories and dropping the excess baggage.

2/ Working the muscles in the core area through balance exercises will give you some stronger, leaner toned abdominal muscles.  You can modify almost any strength training exercise so that you are challenging and strengthening your core.

3/ All the exercise in the world can be so easily undone by eating too many calories and specifically those foods high in fat and sugar.  These can work to load you up on calories.  Eat a healthy well balanced diet, 5-6 smaller meals a day, focus on whole grains and make sure at least half your plate or two-thirds of it is loaded full of vegetables and fruit if you can.

Success with Diet and Exercise – No change, no gain

Are you of the mindset that you are too old to start an exercise program? Too heavy to lose weight and get in shape? The odds are against you so why bother? Then the life you have now will never change or improve. If you repeat the same behavior, whether its sitting watching TV doing nothing in terms of exercise or overeating junk food, fatty food and high sugar food why would you think for one minute things would become different in your world? You do nothing to make positive changes in your life, so you get no positive changes in your life.

People today are taken with ‘reality’ TV where they take ordinary people and follow them in unique situations. Take two groups, one set of strangers put in a remote location for weeks on end with little to eat and exposure to the elements and another that is set on a farm with chefs providing healthy nutritious meals and a strict exercise routine. At the end of the challenges for both teams one is tired and gaunt looking, the other group are smiling and happy that they have made huge strides in changing their lives for the better. The second group learned the importance of nutrition and exercise and how to use those tools to continue on a path to good health. These are people from age 18 to age 70 and we all feel good to see those before and after pictures knowing it came from very hard work.

While you may not have access to a chef and trainer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week there is plenty of information available to you to assist in achieving similar goals. Discuss with a doctor, trainer, and nutritionist to get some expert advice when you are uncertain. Learn how to shop for food, prepare and portions when it comes to your diet plan. Learn to do exercises correctly so you don’t injure yourself. Gimmicks and fads don’t work for anything. The promises to make thousands a day online doing nothing – not true, there is always a catch and the same thing applies to losing 10 pounds in a week with one magic little pill. Hard work and being focused is how people get rich, in terms of wealth and in terms of a happy healthy lifestyle.

5 Holiday Tips for Healthy Eating and Tackling Temptation

1/ Take inventory of the events you have to attend, or host. Be very aware of what you have on your agenda that will make eating healthy a bit of a struggle. You never need to deny yourself a little indulgence now and again however pick what is really ‘worth it’ and what you can walk away from. Don’t make it a free for all at the buffet, tiny portions and sample sizes of those things you really, really want to taste will be a mouthful of liquid gold. It’s like budgeting for your gift giving, don’t spend your calories all at once!

2/ Work up a sweat. Perhaps add a few minutes to each weekly cardio session to make up for the extra intake. Small steps like parking as FAR away from the mall as possible and a brisk walk in and out will be a little extra step. Try to power walk through the mall to get your heart pumping, maybe a couple of laps around. You’re there, it’s not snowing inside so go for it! Just because you are ‘busy’ running errands doesn’t mean you are active. Sitting in the car or a shuffle through the grocery store does not count as exercise.

3/ When doing any cooking or baking search out some healthy recipes. There are all kinds of low fat, low sugar substitutes for almost any tasty treat, just look online! If you are not sure what is in something that is offered at a party, you can always say ‘NO’.

4/ If you have to get groceries for a party or meal, eat a meal so you are full before you head out. If you go out hungry you are more likely to pick up more than you need and things you can consume quickly… like in the car on the way home. This same process will work when going to a party, try snacking on something that fills you up a bit before you go. High protein and fiber items will make you feel full and ward off the nibbling temptations.

5/ Drink LOTS of water!

This is a hard time of year so if you overdo it don’t beat yourself up. Stay positive and get your motivation back so you don’t worry and get back on track.

More on womens health and fitness over 40

Work and Weight Gain over 40

Do you feel tired when you wake up and completely drained and exhausted when you get home? Do you stress about your responsibilities at work even when you're not AT work? If you answered yes to either of these you are certainly not alone. You are among the masses who work far in excess of 40 hours a week, take work home with you and in many cases you will find yourself packing on the pounds too.

A study of city employees aged 40-60 reported that those with the demands of family life at home and a high level of responsibility at work were the group that reported gaining weight. There is likely a strong possibility that those with long hours are not eating regularly or properly, rather they just indulge on whatever is accessible.

There is no simple solution to this problem as we all need to work. Striking a balance where you put your needs for nutrition, exercise and some down time first may be a challenge but could help a great deal with weight gain and fatigue issues. Make time to sit quietly and do something for you. A bubble bath or read a magazine. Resting is important. Perhaps you could try to schedule nights dedicated to work and take care of work related issues that need the extra time on those nights. This could leave you with some evenings you leave on time. Here's something that may work, talk to your boss and ask for some help! I know, this may be the most unrealistic suggestion of all... but you never know.

Striking a balance with work, and time for you can be very hard. We tend to forget, we work so we can 'have' a life. FAR too often work becomes our life.

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Over 40? Need Exercise? Need Incentive?

We all have the power and the tools to be healthier and fit. To a large degree for most of us this is all about 'choice'. I have been a 'heavy and lazy' person in the past and now I choose NOT to be. I choose to work to be healthy and feel great and I do! The decision was mine, and taking action was all that was required. I care enough about myself to make those actions a priority now in my daily life.

Look around you the next time you are in a classroom, staff meeting or even standing in the mall and you will see living proof that the statistics show on average 40-50 percent of our population is obese. That means that almost half the people you will see around you don't care about themselves enough to exercise portion control, stay away from high sugar and deep fried foods or go for a brisk walk. Instead they will sit and do nothing about it. They will eat poorly, perhaps drink excessively, many will light up one cigarette after another, and not care or realize what they are doing to themselves. They will complain about how they look and feel, but not do nothing to change it.

The choice is yours. Do you choose to be happy and healthy, perhaps even set a good example for the children and young adults in your life, or would you rather be the almost 50% that are killing themselves with food and a sedentary lifestyle?

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Exercise over 40 - The Time Crunch

Most every adult you talk to today will tell you they have so little time in life for anything. Truth is we tend to put our needs last when we should make certain things that are for ‘us’ a priority in our lives. Staying fit over 40 helps reduce a number of health risks a great deal. One way it does is with reduced stress. We all have stress in our lives and stress reducers are very necessary. What is another way to deal with it? Sex will also reduce stress, but again it’s something we can overlook like a fitness program.

Too many times people make the ‘time’ the excuse for lacking any kind of fitness routine and for not taking time out for intimacy. Here is what you need to do – MAKE TIME! Make them both a priority in your life. You can feel good and get so much pleasure from both the bottom line is you just have to shut up, quite whining and do it! The more you do it, the more it makes you feel good, the more you will want it. Which one you ask? Both!

The Weight Battle for over 40

As we age, it is a natural progression that our muscle mass disappears little by little and our body tends to store more fat. You don't need to make 'huge' changes but to keep yourself toned with lean muscle mass in tact you do need to commit to regular exercise. A program that fits into your life easily and you can stick with. This will enhance your ability to keep that nasty fat at bay, and keep your muscles healthy and strong. It's not complicated, strength training is needed to maintain an healthy body just like aerobic exercise and a proper diet.

Fitness and exercise over 40

Benefits to your Brain

Remember the old saying: if you don’t use it you lose it. Learned information such as a foreign language is an example. The less you practice the language the more you tend to forget. With exercising the body, you are also exercising your brain. There are many benefits for a person’s mind that are a result of physical exercise.
The increase in oxygen and blood flow throughout our bodies during exercise has been related to trigger growth stimulating hormones in the brain. New cells created in the brain can aid in learning new skills and memory functions. Memory improving with exercise over 40? This would actually apply at any age but the memory capabilities seem to be more of a challenge as we get older. What is happening is with some intense exercise, the new cells being created make connections in the brain and skills like learning, planning and memory seem to improve.

Another element of brain function that is affected by exercise is our ability to cope with stress, therefore taxing our noggins less. Proven over and over again that regular exercise aids in our ability to deal with stress, medical studies show that stress creates a hormone that reduces our hippocampus and reducing our ability to learn and remember. How do you undo this? You don’t remember? C’mon I just told you, it’s EXERCISE.

Healthy eating and a 30 minute a day (ideal) exercise regimen like a bike ride, power walk, or cardio equipment can have you sharp as a tack. You will not only feel better but your mind will be triggering like spark plugs and your outlook will be bright and sunny. Exercise is simple and a very powerful thing you can do for your mind.

Exercise and Routine

Routine or Same old, Same old
When you hear the work routine it conjures up images of your typical day. Wake up, shower, coffee, commute, work, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. Like the directions to wash your hair which is done over and over and the same over and over. When it comes to exercise,resistance training, cardiovascular workouts you can get into the same old, same old. What happens then? Motivation drops, not enjoyable and as a result your commitment tends to fade and the results you always wanted seem farther and farther away.

Shake it up! Add some variety to your ‘routine’ and make it fun. When the weather is nice include as much in the way of outdoor activities as you can. Run, walk (if your dog is fat, then this should tell you you both need to walk more!) play tennis, walk the golf course or anything that you find enjoyable and can fit in your day. Have your partner or kids join you and make it family time.

When it comes to resistance training and weight lifting, yes, sticking with ‘what you know’ seems easy right? However your body knows all this stuff, been there, seen it, done it. BORING. Watch people in the gym, watch videos, get tips online, enlist the help of a trainer for a few sessions, or get a training buddy. All are ways to make some changes to your ‘routine’. A new exercise may hit muscles you’ve been missing and challenge you in new ways.

Remember to take your time and make sure you do any new exercise correctly. Listen to your body and don’t risk hurting yourself or overdoing it. We love to stay where we feel ‘comfort’ but introducing new cardio routines, maybe a dance class and some challenging new exercises with weights can yield great results both mentally with your motivation and physically with your body.

Drinking water

We Drink, and Drink and Drink….
We all take our bottle of water to the gym with us. It’s a vessel full of clear water, zero calories and refreshing to boot. However do we know all the ‘good’ contained in this bottle? Are we aware of the reasons why this bottle has become a critical part of our workouts as well as out daily lives? Well folks, here is the lowdown on mans (and woman’s) new best friend – the water bottle.

You go to a fitness class, it’s an hour long and your pace is quite intense. Do you know that on average you will have sweat out about a quart of water? It’s important to keep yourself properly hydrated at all times. Drinking before and after a workout as well as drinking during a workout is of key importance. During any kind of exercise you don’t want the muscles to suffer from becoming dehydrated either. The movement and flow of your muscles is dependent on them being properly hydrated. Even on days you aren’t training the ongoing intake of water still provides us with so many benefits we should have our best friend with us at all times.

Water makes up approximately 50%-60% of our bodies composition. This essential element works to regulate our body temperature, helping our breathing, transports vital nutrients throughout our bodies, carries away waste ( not a pretty topic but we all know …. XXXX happens! ) as well as the muscle function we mentioned makes this a critical part of our health and well being. Without taking in some form of water, our systems would shut down after three days and we would die. If you feel a little thirsty – get some water. This thirst is a sign of dehydration.

There is a theory that water can help your metabolism and help you lose weight. This is hinged on the liver functioning to assist the kidneys when you are not properly hydrated. This slows down the metabolic process. So the theory states drinking water assists in weight loss by increasing your metabolism OR is it that consuming water can make you feel full, thus decreasing your appetite. Research shows your brain may ‘think’ you are hungry, but the signal may be simply thirst and a glass of water contains far less in the way of fat and calories!

I will tell you honestly, that I have felt better during workouts when I keep hydrated. I try not to overdo it, mainly because I don’t want to stop to go to the bathroom, or get any kind of cramp. I have experienced weight loss when I increase my water intake, however I tend to eat from boredom so the water drinking fills that need and I do take in far less calories. Lastly from my personal experience, my body functions better, I feel better and taking in 8-12 glasses a day I find that I pick up less in the way of colds and flu’s. Is it flushing out toxins?

For every theory on drinking water, healthy and weight loss, there are theories that can/ will dispute this. Go by what works for you. If you get sick less, if your skin looks brighter and clearer, if you lost weight or if you just feel better, then something is working for you. We do know that for the avid fitness enthusiast you need to replace what you sweat out and you need to keep the muscles hydrated. Your brain is over 75% water, don’t we want to feed our brains? Perhaps we’re not getting old and forgetful, we’re just thirsty!

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Benefits of Exercise over 40 for Women

The ‘Change’ UGH

It’s inevitable, unavoidable and can be quite dreadful. If this is supposed to be when we are in our ‘prime’ then who’s idea of a sick joke was it to make us poor women over 40 and 50 deal with a huge change in their bodies during this ‘glorious’ period? Truth be told, managing perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms can be a lot easier than most of us would think. There is a light at the end of the sweat filled, hormone raging tunnel for those who experience emotional swings from anger, to crying and in the midst you get the chance to feel like someone has put you in a casserole pan and slid you in the oven with an intense hot flash. I like to call them my ‘short tropical vacations’.

I have read and experienced the benefits from a report that indicates that 30 minutes of some kind of heart pumping fitness done four times a week can be your best alternative to Hormone replacement therapy. The findings were based on our adrenal glands producing a male hormone called androstenedione which through exercise is converted into estrogen. This keeps our tanks topped up and lessons the need for HRT. These findings extend to the group of peri to post menopausal women.

So get active and make this the best time of your life. An all natural solution to an age old problem for us mature women. Who knew it was this simple?

Osteoperosis and The Benefits of Exercise when over 40

It's that nagging 12 letter word we don't typically think about until it's too late. The literal translation is 'porous bones' where they become weak and brittle. So before it's too late we need to ask why this happens and how to we stop it?

It would appear that a lot of the symptoms seem to naturally occur in us women during our 40's. Aging is one we can't really help, and reaching menopause (yes 'that again) with a decrease in our naturally occurring hormones is another element that needs to happen. Family history will determine if you are at greater risk. We need to rethink smoking because in this age bracket the side effects can be far more wide spread than before. Some medications can also contribute to the brittle bones and onset of osteoporosis as well.

Will we have symptoms? No, not until one of our bones goes snap! Whether it's simply from reaching to pick something up and your wrist is affected, hips and back pain are two areas where the stress from weakened bones will become prevalent in time. Your posture will suffer and walking will be a challenge. Stopping the onset again is a simple choice we need to make now before it's too late.

Healthy bones are a result of adequate calcium, Vitamin D ( which enables the calcium to be absorbed) and the simple element that seems to be shining through as a 'cure all' for so many age related issues - exercise! Regular exercise can stop the bones from diminishing in size and will stimulate cells that generate new bone tissue. This means that with regular weight bearing exercise studies report you can rebuild some of the bone loss and undo some of the damage from the weakened bones.

In a world full of pills that are to 'cure all' and 'fix all' and supplements to give us all we need, it would appear that it's not as complicated and difficult as we make it out to be. Get up and get moving!

bodybuilding and healthy bones