by IcennaEmach | Aug 24, 2009 | Uncategorized
Thankfully, there’s an ongoing awareness that aging well requires being physically fit. But many people are unsure of what being physically fit actually means. Does being fit mean that you can run a mile in 8 minutes? Or does it mean that you can touch your toes or do 25 push-ups in one minute? There are five prime components to being physically fit and regardless of age, extending oneself in these five key areas of health are critical to healthy aging. There are additional areas not traditionally considered part of physical fitness like balance training and mental training but will be considered in upcoming articles.
Keep in mind that aging well is an ongoing process so although we may get specific testing data on where we should be performing in each fitness category based on gender and age, truly aging well requires expending energy in these five key areas over a lifetime.
Cardiovascular Fitness
Minimum 20 -30 minutes 4 days a week
Heart rate at minimum of 70 %. Formula is 220 minus age multiplied by .70 = HR minimum. Example for a 71 year old minimum at 70% is 104 beats per minute while exercising the heart. *Those on beta blockers will not use this formula and should consult their doctor on exertion levels.
Exercise must use leg muscles and be a continuous motion to be considered cardiovascular in nature. Ex. walking, biking, stair climbing, jogging, elliptical trainer, cross country skiing.
Muscular Strength
How much upper body can lift for one repetition. How much lower body can lift for one repetition. * Should not try this one rep maximum especially if you have not been training. There are rules that apply to this depending on the age of the person.
Muscular Endurance
How many repetitions upper body can lift in one minute. How many repetitions lower body can lift in one minute.
Flexibility
The range of motion in such areas as the hamstrings ( back of legs), upper and lower back areas, shoulders, hips, neck, and quadriceps ( front of thigh.)
Body Composition
Being at a weight that is comfortable for the individual given his lifestyle needs. It includes being at a weight that does not contribute to elevated blood sugars, lack of energy, cardiovascular risks, osteoarthritis, and other increased body fat health issues.
Includes being at a body fat that is considered within normal range. This varies but typically men should look at a range from 10-18% depending on age and lifestyle needs and women at 18-26%.
Regardless of age, extending ourselves in these five key health areas, studies have shown, reduce premature aging and are vital for aging well.
by IcennaEmach | Aug 17, 2009 | Uncategorized
Our muscles have an innate capacity to respond to stimuli by growing in size, density, and strength. Here’s how to smartly proceed in a healthy aging strength training program weeks 4-12.
The first 3-4 weeks are designed to learn proper technique as well as allow the ligaments, tendons, and muscles to adjust to the increased stress that will be placed on them incrementally in ongoing weeks. These opening 4 weeks lay the foundation not only for the body physically, but for the mind mentally. See Strength For Those That Never Weight Trained.
Strength Training Weeks 4-12
There are pros and cons of using machine weights and free weights. As a novice, machine weights will be a much better option in weeks 4 through 12 of your strength training program. Since this time period is primarily to build strength progressively, machine weights will offer more convenience increasing your chance of continuing your new program, as well as allow you to focus more intensely on working each muscle group rather than on correct body positioning. With machine weights, once you are set up properly, there is little room for misalignment.
Basic Machine Set Up With a Trainer
If you haven’t already hired a personal trainer to get you set up properly in each machine, then now would be a good time. At a minimum have the trainer show you the appropriate settings. You should write them down and have the trainer allow you to practice setting each machine as well as executing each machine so that he may provide feedback. This feedback will be invaluable in ensuring you will practice correctly on your own thus decreasing injury occurrences. It will take a minimum of 4- 5 sessions with a trainer to acquire the basics. During these sessions, ask the trainer for detailed specifics on how and when to with weights and reps. A good trainer will not overwhelm you but will help you make sense of these opening 12 weeks of base strength trainingand will assist you in making adjustments for physical limitations.
Machines For Base Strength Training
· Leg Extension
· Leg Curl
· Hip Adductor
· Hip Adductor
· Leg Press
· Chest Press
· Lattisimus Dorsi Pull Down
· Shoulder Press
· Bicep Curl
· Tricep Press Down
Days
For progressive strength gains aim for training 2-3 days per week implementing all of the above exercises in the order indicated. It will be necessary to take a day or two off in between to allow your muscles to rest.
Repetitions
Perform each exercise one time aiming for 10 – 12 repetitions for upper body and 12 -15 for the lower body. You should strive to use a weight that is heavy enough that by time you get to the 10th -12th repetition for upper body and 12 -15 for lower body, the muscle is moderately fatigued. After you have been doing the upper repetitions in three consecutively training sessions then move up in weight. Most weight machines will have increments of 5 and 10 lbs. If you can at least perform 8 repetitions for the upper body, and 10 for the lower body then keep the increased weight and proceed from there.
Sets
Since your objective during this 12 week period is to gain strength primarily for healthier aging, one set of exercise performed to fatigue, according to research, is the most effective means for increasing strength. (The reason many people need to do multiple sets is that they didn’t perform the first one at maximum intensity.) Your main priority should be to focus intently on each exercise and fatique each muscle group thoroughly.
Quality, not quantity, is paramount in gaining muscle and bone strength, density, and most importantly a body that ages well! You can do it. I’d be happy to help! Until the next posting, think about this, ” Healthy aging may not imply living longer, but do you think it can mean living with less disease, more fun and more vitality?” If so, make just one healthy aging change in your life today. Don’t push yourself to change everthing all at once. There’s no hurry. One change is good. We’ll work on others later. Life is good. Call if you need to. 904 501 6002
Click on this link to see a recent article which reverses decades of advising cancer patients to avoid strength training. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32390238/ns/health-cancer/
by IcennaEmach | Aug 2, 2009 | Uncategorized
Gain Bone Strength and Muscle Tone Intelligently, Even if You’ve Never Trained
It’s never too late to gain strength. Our bones and muscles have an innate capacity to respond to stimuli by growing in size, density and strength. Here’s how to smartly begin.
In the beginning stages of a weight training routine, it’s necessary to take 3-4 weeks to learn proper technique while keeping the weights light. Think of this process as setting the stage for smart progressive gains in strength, muscle tone, and muscle density. Skipping these two factors of proper technique and light weight in the initial stage increases injury occurance which is the number one reason people stop training. Don’t let this be you. Keep the weight light enough that you can practice good form without any struggle. The temptation to increase the weight amount will be looming, but realize it is the tendons and ligaments of the body that really need sensible conditioning in these opening weeks. Be patient. Be Smart.
To Hire a Trainer or Not ?
If there was ever a time to hire a trainer it’s in the opening weeks of a weight training routine. A good trainer will show you what machines to use, how to set them up, and what weight to start with. A really good trainer will help you in those opening weeks to make sense of a routine suitable for you. This should involve asking many questions about your lifestyle, how much time you can commit to exercise, what type of job you have, past injuries, health status, motivation levels, reasons for initiating a strength program and other pertinent information that willhelp develop a plan that is suited for you.
A good trainer will also add perspective on how best to adhere to the program and will transition you through various aspects of learning to strength train. A good trainer is well worth the money as implementing a strength routine correctly, is paramount to your long term success. Most people who don’t use a trainer, don’t continue a strengthening program for longer than a few weeks.
Not Ready to Hire a Trainer?
If you want to or need to begin a strength program on your own, most gyms have attendants that can show you how to use the machines. There should be no cost for them to show you how to set up each machine. If you never strength trained before in your life, and you will be training on your own, have the gym’s attendant or preferably a personal trainer show you these five exercises.
Getting Started On Your Own
Leg Press– press through the heels and keep head back.
Latissimus Dorsi Pull Down-keep chest upright throughout and lean slightly back.
Chest Press– keep head back and engage chest muscles to press.
Seated Shoulder Press With Dumbells – back supported and palms facing in.
Standing Bicep Curl Against Wall– knees slightly bent and stand against wall for support.
Repetitions and Sets
Practice 15 repetitions of each exercise in the order as desribed above. Repeat this cycle one more time. Practice slowly and deliberately and use a light enough weight that 15 repetitions are not a strain.
How Often
Practice this routine 2-3 times a week for the first three weeks preferably having a day or two off in between. Increase the weights by no more than 15% each week. Remember, your goal in the opening weeks is to practice good form and allow your tendons and ligaments to get adjusted to the increased workload to come.
When you leave the gym you should feel like you could easily continued doing more. Don’t be tempted to increase your weights, repetitions or sets. This is a mistake that will ultimately increase the likelihood that you will dread going to the gym your next session. We are not just training our bodies, but we are also training our minds. It’s a process of adjustment and by honoring this you’ll increase the likelihood of making strength training a lifelong habit.
Look for part II of this series on smartly beginning a weight training routine for bone strength and increased muscle tone in next week’s blog. Until then, keep in mind that our true wealth is in your health. Best of luck to you! E-mail or call me for any questions you may have. I will be happy to help!
by IcennaEmach | Jul 20, 2009 | Uncategorized
Lifestyle routines are often overlooked in assessing how to get a good night’s rest. How to balance your day mentally and physically between work and play is central to sleeping well and in turn aging well.
It’s a little known fact in the world of sleep that mastering the perfectly balanced day is a necessity to sleeping well. Having just the right amount of physical exertion, mental stimulation, and feeling of accomplishment is key to a healthy night’s sleep. Unfortunately, many people struggle with balancing their day. As with learning most new behaviors, bringing awareness is the first stage of change. Here’s how to begin.
Logging Current Lifestyle Activities
It’s difficult to change your lifestyle if you don’t know what your current one looks like. Keep a log book for two weeks before making any lifestyle changes and include the following:
-Hourly activities from morning until night.
-Rating of physical exertion after each activity.
-Rating of mental stimulation after each activity.
-Rating of feelings of accomplishment after each activity.
-Rating of enjoyment after each activity.
Method to Your Madness
Have the mindset that there needs to be a method to this madness, and your job is to seek how you rated in each of the four categories. However, before tallying the ratings, ask yourself this question,”What is my general feeling of how balanced my daily life is between physical exertion, mental stimulation, feelings of accomplishment, and feelings of enjoyment?” Write a brief description. Next tally your ratings in each of the four categories over the two week period and see how closely the tallied ratings correspond to your general description. Chances are you have depicted yourself quite accurately. The reason for this exercise is to demonstrate that writing information down brings awareness to how we really live our lives. And this is our starting point for change!
Where to Begin Making Changes
This is the fun part. Let’s say for illustration purposes, you are lacking in the physical exertion area but your days are exceedingly mental. However, feelings of accomplishment is generally high, but areas of daily enjoyment is assessed low. There are many places to start. Choose an area to work on and pick a behavior to change or add to your daily routine. Keep in mind this is a process and it is not necessary or recommended that you make too many changes at once. Consistency in making a change is more important than the quantity of change. Master one behavior at a time and proceed with a thoughtful strategy in place assessing your quality of sleep as the weeks progress.
Behavior Change Examples
-Decrease mental stress by practicing short walks throughout the day inbetween mental challenges.
-Increase daily enjoyment by planning a fun activity to anticipate throughout the day
-Increase physical exertion by joining an activity that you did as a child. Examples might be tennis, jogging, basketball.
-Increase life enjoyment by planning a weekly fun ritual.
-Increase mental stimulation by planning a daily time to read, write, or find a new interest
-Increase sense of accomplishment by starting with an easy goal increasing the difficulty as the weeks progress. Examples may be planning a day trip to planning a week long trip, or walking 20 minutes daily to jogging 2 miles daily.
Have a mindset that practicing lifestyle changes aimed at increasing the quality of sleep is as worthy as practicing our golf or tennis swing. By balancing our day mentally and physically between work, play, life enjoyment and accomplishment, we not only sleep better, but age better, and in turn live more vitally and vigorously!
by IcennaEmach | Jul 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
It seems savvy consumers of health products are refusing to buy into plans and products that “easily and quickly” produce results. The use of short lived exercise plans, questionable exercise gadgets, over the counter remedies, and “super-powered” diet foods are becoming outdated thinking methods for health and wellness aficionados.
Wellness Coaches For Better Health
Within the past 3 years, savvy consumers have engaged the help of wellness coaches to attain not only better health, but a better sense of what it means to be healthy.
I am encouraged daily as I see people gain a new found perspective of what it means to be well. In my own work with training and coaching clients, many gain an understanding and appreciation for the needed sensibility that comes from progressing one’s lifestyle in a slow, deliberate, and focused manner.
Wellness Coaching For Long Lasting Behavior Changes
Wellness coaching is a newly emerging profession that focuses on developing a partnership with individuals who are interested in improving their health status in order to enjoy a more vital and vigorous lifestyle. It has its roots in the findings of behavior scientists who have shown that one-to-one coaching is among the most effective approaches to helping people make and sustain improvements in their lives. A coach enables change by focusing on the client’s stated needs, values, vision, and personal goals in order to bring about his or her physical and mental best
Certified Wellness coaches must have a background of expertise in one of the health fields and as a result often are quite diverse within their field of wellness. Some of these fields are: Registered nurses, health educators, personal trainers, nutritionist, lifestyle coaches, physical therapists and most recently medical doctors.
A coach is dedicated to their client’s success and implements various collaborative strategies to enable the client to achieve more than what he could on his own. Sometimes a coach is a sounding board, often times a mentor, and at other times a challenger holding one accountable to the goals they are looking to achieve.
Rooted in Positive Psychology
An important benefit coaches offer is helping the client envision what is doable. They are solidly rooted in the practice of positive psychology to facilitate the best possible outcome for their client’s total health and well being.
Coaches For a Variety of Lifestyle Benefits
Clients hire wellness coaches to help them obtain a variety of lifestyle benefits such as lowering blood pressure, monitoring weight loss, lowering blood sugar and cholesterol, improving bone density, training for a long distance run, or simply balancing ones lifestyle more efficiently. With Internet and cellular phone technology coaching can be done from anywhere on the globe.
Our Wealth is in Our Health,
Kim Miller
by IcennaEmach | Jun 30, 2009 | Uncategorized
Reading the results of various studies in the health field is fascinating. However, being in the business of fitness and helping people obtain their health, fitness, and wellness visions, in addition to feeling and looking good is even more fascinating. I chose personal training and health coaching over group fitness because of the creative flexibility it allows me in meeting the unique requirements that each individual brings to training sessions.
I have both young and older clients ranging in ages from 11 to 84 years. Some of them are in good conditioning and like the added challenge of one or two hard workout per week. Some are in the beginning stages and want to tone their bodies, build muscle and bone mass, sleep better, or stave off health risk factors caused by inactivity. Still yet, and increasingly so, I have people who benefit from e-mail or phone consulting strategy sessions where walking and nutritional planning is implemented on their own.
This type of work never tires me so I thought it would be interesting for you as well and compiled a short list of insights and observations that I’ve noticed over the 23 years I have been in the health field. By the way, incase you are adding numbers, my years in the health field started when I was two. Ok, twenty two if you are pressing me!
1. Getting Started Is Difficult
The most successful exercisers just do it, realizing they will feel better once the activity is started.
2. We are Smart to be Concerned About Belly Fat
Men with a waist circumference over 40 inches and women over 35 inches are at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. Proper eating habits and cardiovascular exercise trump abdominal exercise for reducing waist size.
3. People that Randomly Exercise Have a Healthier Mindset than People that Never Exercise
I’d rather train a person that is inconsistent than try to convince a person of the benefits of exercise. Those that are inconsistent realize exercise benefits and only need better organization and priority planning, whereas those that deny exercise benefits have no reason for change.
4. We Adapt
Our bodies are highly powered machines that when progressed smartly respond appropriately regardless of age.
5. The Treadmill Gets Bad Press
Walking is functional and we need to be able to continue walking regardless of age. After all, we can’t ride a stationary bike or get on an elliptical trainer to move about in our own house or go out shopping. The bike and elliptical trainer are soft on the knees, and serve an important role for those that ache. Use the treadmill or walk outside occasionally, but don’t eliminate this movement from your exercise routine.
6. Consistency is More Important Than Intensity for Healthy Living
Both intensity and consistency need practiced if training for a specific muscular look is desired. Both can be done simultaneously.
7. Motivation is Key in Exercise Consistency
It doesn’t matter where we derive motivation. Using “looking better” as a motivating impetus is not a bad way to think. Training, regardless of our motivation makes us not only look and feel better, but gives us better health numbers.
8. Life Looks Better Viewed Through a Healthy Body
Want to change your attitude? Train your body.
9. The Lateral Pull Down is the Most Misused Gym Apparatus
Too much weight and bad form. Keep chest upright and not contracted. Never should you take the bar behind your head.
Having a Personal Trainer or Wellness Consultant Does not Have to be a Lifetime Commitment – some people are reluctant to use the services of a personal trainer because they think the trainer is looking for a lifetime income and they don’t want to feel obligated. Trainers are utilized in multiply ways and most good trainers enjoy the variety of reasons that people come to them whether for one single session or a continuous program. Credentials are important. The following are various reasons people may hire a trainer.
1. Learn proper alignment and form on machines and free weights.
2. Weekly as an extra energy boost to typical routines.
3. Quarterly for changing routines, and offering more progressively challenging tasks.
4. After the Holidays as a motivational jump start.
5. Prior to special events to look and feel good.
6. Weight loss jump start.
7. E-mail accountability programs to boost fitness or wellness goal success.
8. Body sculpting program for swim wear season.
9. After cardiovascular rehabilitation to reinforce implementation in new setting.
10. Learn safe back strengthening exercises to decrease back pain.
11. Full body conditioning prior to or after surgery to decrease surgery complications.
12. Reduce blood pressure prior to deciding on taking prescription drugs. May be on own or in gym.
13. Increase bone strength prior to deciding on taking prescription drugs.
14. Design training routine for sporting competition.
15. Abdominal training exercises post pregnancy.
16. Target muscle training such as triceps ( back of arms), hip, and gluteus routines.
17. In home training or consulting on various fitness routines or health programs.
18. Home gym set up consulting and implementation advice.
19. Blood sugar reduction program on own or with trainer.
20. Nutrition and exercise consulting via e-mail, phone, or in person.
Trainers and Coaches are diversified in their offerings. Asking them about their qualifications and how they can make the program most convenient for you while reaching your goals should be top priority. You are hiring them, and attention to your needs and how best they can be met should be their number one priority. It should be offered, but always ask for a no obligation complimentary consultation.
