28 June 2006
simple exercise plans to keep you fit
One of the great misconceptions about health is that you have to choose between doing nothing and being an overweight couch potato, or exercise and end up looking like a professional wrestler. The truth is that by doing light exercise for as little as 20 minutes a day and eating a nutritional diet will keep the pounds off and will help prevent health problems.
In the Woman’s Day article 20 Minutes to a Better Body the author offers a simple total-body workout in just 5 moves. No expensive gym membership is needed, just a pair of dumbbells from 5 to 8 pounds. Each exercise described is low impact, and included in the article is a photo slideshow where the exercises are demonstrated. After a few weeks on this exercise plan you should see (and measure) positive results.
If you want to mix a bit of social interaction with your fitness, why not join a fitness class at your local gym or continuing education center? Tai Chi is becoming very popular, and most cities have classes available. Tai Chi Moves Seniors into Healthful Positions details the health benefits for older people :
“Researchers reported in a recent Annals of Behavioral Medicine that Tai Chi movements helped seniors improve their physical functioning. Ninety-six healthy, but inactive adults ages 65 to 96 were assigned to either a 6-month Tai Chi class or a control group. At the end of the study, more than half of those enrolled in the Tai Chi class who had reported functional limitations at the start of the study indicated improvement. This is consistent with other studies showing the benefits of Tai Chi for seniors — most notably, in reducing falls.”
The benefits of keeping healthy as you grow older are many, and it can be as simple as spending 20 or 30 minutes a day.
16 March 2006
Now is the best time to start thinking about fitness
You’ve worked hard for everything you have, and now you finally have time to enjoy it. Don’t let your physical fitness hold you back. If you are out of shape, or have put on a bit of extra pounds, now is the time to start a fitness routine to feel healthy and revitalize the energy you might have thought was gone forever.
From the English women’s magazine Saga, the article It’s Never Too Late - How exercise prolongs active life and why now is the right time to get going :
“It may feel natural to slow down a little as you grow older, but the reality is that after the age of 50, we need more exercise, not less. This is because exercise is the way to slow the decline in muscle strength that accelerates as we grow older.
Those who lead a sedentary lifestyle run serious risks of damaging their health in many ways. Being inactive means running a higher risk of developing obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and depression. But by the same token, research clearly shows that even moderate amounts of physical activity have enormous health benefits, not just for the body, but for the mind too.
And it’s never too late to start. Even people in their 80s and 90s have been shown to regain muscle strength and mobility by regular, gentle exercise.”
The secret of weight loss is that muscles burn calories 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. When your body is fit it naturally burns more calories, keeping you slim and trim and feeling your best.