One thing I’ve learned from training adults 50 years old and up is that each of their stories, and bodies, is different. A cookie cutter exercise prescription is less likely to work and may lead to injury. This can result in abandoning very good intentions of adopting a more active lifestyle.
Genetics, old injuries, body structure and weight, exercise history and osteoarthritis all play a role in how the body will perform as it ages. The major joints come into play and will likely make themselves heard loud and clear. The shoulders, knees, hips, and spine are the joints most likely to affect mobility.
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The majority of my group fitness clients are aged 65 to 92. I feel very privileged to be able to teach them, but mostly I feel very lucky and grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn from them.
Here is what these elders have taught me: (more…)
Are you interested in adding zip to your exercise routine, boosting your muscle performance, developing your cardiovascular system fully, and increasing your metabolism? Are your workouts becoming ho-hum? Interval training may be your answer! (more…)
The holiday season is upon us. We’re all hoping for joyful get-togethers with friends and family, and some time to relax. We’re all expecting, and perhaps beginning to experience, more stress than we care for. But there’s definitely one thing we can count on - an abundance of food and drink.
Eating is one of the most primal of shared activities; families and whole cultures have defined themselves through food. And no wonder - food is a wonderful sensory experience! Hey, we gotta eat – food is our fuel, but we often turn to food for solace and celebration, with less and less reference to tradition and ritual.
Our food choices and the amount we eat are dictated by biology and psychology. Our desire for food is hard wired into our cells. A fine-tuned system of chemical and neurological checks and balances regulates what we eat and how much our body stores as fat. But social, emotional and behavioural forces also play a role in what, when and how much we eat. During this festive season how can we enjoy the best the holidays have to give without regretting it later? Here are some tips on how we can partake without going overboard. (more…)
Last month’s blog entry briefly looked at why many women’s tummies expand at middle age. Slowing metabolism, decreased physical activity, changing hormones, stress and genetics were some of the reasons listed. Now let’s look at our tummies, and how we can decrease them, in more detail. (more…)
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis affecting roughly 3 million Canadians, most of them women over 40 with pre-existing conditions such as joint injuries, bone deformities or obesity. What some may not know, however, is that people over 40 can drastically reduce their chances of getting osteoarthritis by taking simple steps to adopt a healthier lifestyle. (more…)
As we age it becomes more important to set aside the time to take care of ourselves by eating well, exercising, and managing our stress levels. We all need stress in our lives to adapt to the challenges in life and to survive. It increases our concentration, our reaction time and strength. On the other hand chronic stress can lead to anxiety, depression, potentially fatal health problems, sleeping disturbances, and memory deficits. But why does it become more important to manage stress as we age? (more…)
Sarcopenia is defined as the loss of muscle mass that occurs with aging. This loss of muscle is replaced by fat. The process begins in the 4th decade of life but a larger decline begins at around age 60. From 60 onwards an active person loses approximately 1% of their muscle mass per year which increases to 2% in their 70s, 4% in their 80s and 8% in the 9th decade. This is why it becomes more important to fight the urge to do less as we get older, and to include strength training in our fitness routine. You can slow down and even reverse sarcopenia! Listed below are the benefits of strength training. (more…)
Arterial inflammation, and its role in the promotion of heart disease, is a health topic often making headlines these days. Dr. Oz, a frequent guest on Oprah, advises that people get their blood checked for C Reactive Protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, and use low-dose aspirin therapy to keep inflammation in check. The popular Dr. Andrew Weil promotes an anti-inflammatory diet. Should we all be running to the doctor to get our CRP level checked? (more…)
That is a good question! We’ve all read, with a sigh of relief, that drinking alcohol in moderation is good for our cardiovascular system - one drink a day for women and two for men (5 oz wine, 12 oz beer or 1 ½ oz liquor). Well, a new University of Oxford study, involving over a million women for 5 years, is saying that no amount of drinking is safe for women. That the risk of breast cancer is increased in women who consume more than moderate amounts alcohol is not new information, it’s that even relatively low levels of drinking alcohol increase the risk.
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