Balancing Your Physical Energy As You Age

Ashrita_at_Stonehenge. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Starting your daily activity in your spiritual energy, then mastering your mental energy allows a harmonious flow of energy into your physical activities. Your physical body is the end result of the creative flow of energy from spirit into matter.

Your body is designed by the Divine for movement. It is a magnificently designed living organism and, if properly taken care of, will provide you health, strength, and mobility for all of your years here on earth.

Think of it like this, your body is the only vehicle you have through which you can do your daily activities. There are two very important components to maintaining a healthy body: daily exercise and proper nutrition.

People seem to think that once they reach the age of forty, their bodies start to deteriorate, slipping down the slope into “old” age. They blame their lack of energy, their pudgy appearance, and their aches and pains on “getting old.” Most of these symptoms are however the result of years of negative thinking, lack of exercise, and poor dietary choices. The key to keeping your body fit and firm as you age is making healthy lifestyle choices on a daily basis.

It’s a proven fact that people who make healthy lifestyle choices live longer and have a better quality of life than those who adopt unhealthy habits. So, deciding to incorporate healthy habits into your life is the first step to getting and staying fit and firm with age. The next step is choosing those activities that are the most beneficial in your quest to stay fit and firm.

Those, including myself, who stay fit and firm as the years pass find that a positive state of mind, and a proper mix of strength training, cardiovascular exercise, and balanced nutrition is fundamental to getting and staying healthy as you mature. Al Beckles and the late Jack LaLanne can teach us so much about living a healthy lifestyle.

Al Beckles is a legend in the bodybuilding world. At the age of 55, Al placed second in the Mr. Olympia competition, the premier bodybuilding event which thousands of competitors from across the world dream of winning each year. Al Beckles competed into his sixties because his physique was still phenomenal and better than competitors more than half his age

Jack LaLanne was a living icon to the benefits of healthy thinking, eating, and exercise. Over the years he performed amazing feats of strength and conditioning on his birthday. Jack worked out well into his 90s, devoting one and a half hours each day to strength training. This is a true testament to the value of strength training as you mature.

The above is an excerpt from my latest book, Balanced Life Living Life From Within.  Check it out on Amazon.

Getting the Biggest Return for Your Efforts to Lose Weight

This is that time of the year you are bombarded with all the new and improved weight loss gimmicks such as, "Just take this pill, or wear this belt, or do this exercise and you are guaranteed to lose x amount of weight in a week."  Well, if you don't it, I'm telling you now, there are no magic pills, or mystical secrets to weight loss.  Regardless of what you hear, to lose weight you have to expend more calories than you consume.

Your body needs energy (measured in calories) to survive and you get that energy from the food you eat.  How much energy you need on a daily basis is primarily a function of the following factors:

• Your resting metabolic rate (RMR)
• Your physical activity level
• The thermic effect of the food you eat.

Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) is the number of calories your body expends during quiet rest.  Your RMR makes up 60 to 80 percent of your total daily caloric requirements.  Your physical activity level constitutes between 20 to 30 percent of your daily energy needs.  And, the thermic effect of the foods you eat makes up only a small piece of your daily calorie expenditure.

You can see from the above your RMR is the largest component of your daily caloric needs. Your RMR is comprised mainly of the energy requirements of your organs, and the energy requirements of your skeletal muscle.  The energy requirements of your organs make-up 60 to 70 percent of your RMR,  while your skeletal muscle comprises 20 to 30 percent.  The daily energy requirements of your organs remain fairly constant thus, your skeletal muscle is the piece of you RMR that you can change.  By increasing your muscle mass you consequently increase your RMR which means you increase your daily energy expenditure.

As I mentioned above losing weight involves burning more calories than you consume, so building muscle gets you the biggest return for your efforts to lose weight especially in the long-term.  "How do I build muscle you ask?"  The answer is by lifting weights also known as strength training.  Strength training helps in your effort to lose weight by building muscle which increases your RMR and also by increasing your physical activity level (the 2 largest parts of your daily caloric needs).

In my next post I will talk about the additional benefits of strength training and what a good strength program consists of.

Are You Getting the Maximum Results From Your Strength Training Program?

I've worked in the health and fitness industry for over 21 years now as a personal trainer.  During which I have exalted strength training also called weight lifting, and resistance training as the best way to combat the effects of aging.  Scientific research has now proven that strength training is indeed the most beneficial way to maintain your muscle mass, and strength as you age.

Now, I'm beginning to see more people in their 40s and over get off the bikes, and treadmills and start to lift weights.  However, most of them are not using the kind of resistance to reap the most benefit from their weight lifting efforts.  I see them using very little resistance for countless repetitions of each exercise they perform.  To reap the most benefit from your strength training routine you have to use enough resistance to stimulate muscle repair and growth.

A proper strength training routine produces microscopic tears in your muscles and your body responds by repairing your muscles, increasing muscle size, and consequently increasing muscle strength.  Using a resistance that you can easily do for more than 10 repetitions does not cause the microscopic tears in your muscles, nor an increase in muscle size and strength.

Scientific research has proven that working out with a resistance between 60 to 100 percent of the maximum weight you can lift for 1 repetition with proper form is the most beneficial in producing gains in muscle strength.  In layman's terms, use a resistance for each exercise with which it is difficult to complete 8 to 10 repetitions with proper form if you want to get the best results from your strength training program.

If you want to start strength training I suggest you find a nationally certified health and fitness professional to design a program for you and to show you the proper lifting techniques.  It is well worth the time and money to know you are getting the maximum benefit from your exercise program.

If You Build Muscle, You Will Burn Fat

English: Fitness Model posing with dumbell. Photo by Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Remember the line from the movie Field of Dreams, "If you build it they will come".  Well, here's a line to remember if you want to lose body fat, "If you build muscle, you will burn fat".

A significant gain in weight and body fat results from an energy imbalance over a prolonged period of time, which means that energy intake exceeds energy expenditure.  In other words, weight gain and body fat accumulation results from a prolonged period of eating more calories than you burn.  Thus, you didn't go to bed one night fit and trim and wake-up the next morning fat and over-weight.

Consequently, you can change your energy balance by either altering the amount of calories you consume or increasing your energy expenditure.  Your total daily energy expenditure is the sum total of the following: your resting energy expenditure + the thermogenic effect of the foods you consume + the energy expenditure related to your daily activity.  Consequently, if your total daily caloric intake exceeds your total daily energy expenditure, you gain weight in the form of body fat.

Under most circumstances the largest component of your total daily energy requirement is your resting energy expenditure (also referred to as REE).  Your REE is composed of the metabolic requirements of your organs, and muscle mass.  The energy requirements of your organs remain fairly constant under most circumstances therefore, the energy expenditure related to muscle metabolism is the only part of your REE that varies considerably.

Muscle is the active component of your body that burns the most calories at rest.  It is estimated that a pound of muscle burns approximately 6 calories daily at rest. So, for each pound of muscle you gain you also increase your energy expenditure by 6 calories each day.  While that may sound like a small number, it makes a big difference over time.  For example, let's say you gain 5 pounds of lean muscle in the course of a year.  That equates to an additional 30 calories in your daily energy expenditure.   Over the course of a year that equates to nearly a 11,000 calorie increase in your REE.

The synthesis and breakdown of muscle protein is principally responsible for the energy expenditures of resting muscle.  The energy to provide for this process of muscle protein turnover is derived mainly from the oxidation of fat.  Yes, body fat is the preferred fuel of resting muscle, and it is also the preferred fuel for your muscles during low to moderate intensity activities.

Now, let's look at the above example of a 5 pound muscle gain in a different light.  It takes a 3500 calorie deficient to lose 1 pound of body fat.  So, the 11,000 calorie increase in your REE due to a 5 pound gain in muscle equates to a 3 pound loss of body fat over the course of a year.  Now, do you see why it's important to build and maintain your muscle mass if you want to get lean? Thus, I remind you again, "Build the muscle and you will burn the fat".

A Beginners Guide to Strength Training Over 50

My newest ebook, A Beginners Guide to Strength Training Over 50.  Strength training is one of the most important things you can do if you want to remain healthy and fit over the age of 50.  In this guide I show you a beginners strength training routine I do with my clients over 50.

Is Sacopenia Causing You to Get Fatter?

Sacopenia is the progressive loss of muscle mass, function, quality, and strength related to the aging process.  When the word aging comes mind most people think of 65 plus, however you can start to lose muscle mass in your 30s.  As a matter of fact, between the ages of 30 to 60, the average adult will gain 1 lb of weight and lose 1/2 lb of muscle yearly.  That's a gain of 30 lbs of fat and a loss of 15 lbs of muscle over a 30 year period.

How does this happen?  Beginning in their mid-30s most people start to lead a more sedentary lifestyle.  They have careers, get married, have children, and lead less physically active lives.  Your body is designed to be physically active, and the old saying "use it or lose it" is the truth when it comes to your body, especially your muscle mass.

Why do you gain body fat and lose muscle? Muscle is the component of your body that is active and burns the most calories.  Muscle mass burns calories while you are at rest just to maintain itself, even when you are asleep.  A pound of muscle burns approximately 6 calories per day even if you are doing nothing but resting and it burns more if you are active.  Your muscles favorite fuel during times of rest and moderate activity is body fat.

On the other hand, body fat is designed to be used by your body in times of famish.  It is encoded in your body to store body fat just in case you had to go without food for several days.  Consequently body fat only burns about 1 calorie per day to maintain itself.  So, you can see over time as you lose your muscle mass you lose your capacity to burn the calories you consume at the highest level.  Other words, your metabolism drops in relation to your muscle loss.

What can be done to prevent sacopenia?  Research shows the two most important things your can do to prevent muscle loss as you age is regular strength training (also known as weight lifting), and consuming the proper amount of protein high quality protein at each meal.

2 to 3 strength training sessions each week elicits an anabolic response in your muscles (repair and growth) causing your body to adapt to the increased demand to the resistance you are lifting.  And getting enough protein at breakfast, lunch, and dinner signals the body that it is okay to use the protein to rebuild and repair your muscles thus, maintaining your muscle mass.  Experts now agree that 25 to 30 grams of high quality protein at each meal is enough to maximize muscle growth and repair.

I'm in my 50s and I have more muscle mass than I had in my 20s.  I strength train 3 to 4 times each week and I supplement my protein requirements with a whey based smoothie every morning and I have done so for years.  Whey is a dairy derived protein and is one of the highest quality and most digestible proteins that you can consume.  Recently I teamed with a company called Vitalabs to produce one of the best whey protein supplements on the market.  Check it out by clicking on this link and let me know what you think. Protein My Whey.

Weight Lifting is Key to Keeping a Firm Body as You Age

I get asked my age a lot, and when I tell people that I'm 55, the next question is always, how do you stay so fit and toned?  My answer is, by weight lifting 4 times each week.  By weight lifting, I mean lifting at a resistance and intensity that I can barely complete my last repetition on each exercise.  Exercising at that intensity is really the key to getting firm and staying that way, especially as you get older.

I see far too many people wear themselves out by doing hours of cardio each week, and very little weight lifting.  And, when they do lift weights, they exercise with a resistance that's too light to produce results.  You've seen them, they are doing their weight lifting routine while carrying on a conversation with their friends (and they wonder why they see very little results).

When you lift weights, you must have enough resistance to overload your muscles to the point of exhaustion, that place where you find it difficult to do one more repetition.  When you exercise like that, your muscles are worn to the point where they must be repaired  by your body and consequently, they are made stronger. 

Combined with the the right balance of protein and carbohydrates to refuel after your workouts, your body starts to firm-up no matter what age.  Qivana's Metaboliq System is what I use to refuel after my workouts.  I've been in the fitness industry for over 20 years and this is the best balanced eating plan I have ever used and recommended.  Find out more about these amazing products by following this link: Metaboliq.

Exercises to Strengthen and Tone Your Upper Body

 Four great exercises to tone and shape your upper body.
On all of the following exercises I recommend that you do 2 to 3 sets of 10 repetitions.  Use a resistance with which the last 3 repetitions are difficult to complete.  Do this routine 2 times each week, with at lease 2 days between sessions.

Dumbbell Chest Press. The dumbbell chest press is a great exercise to shape and tone your chest and shoulders.  Lay with your back firmly on a bench, start with the dumbbells at chest level then press your arms to straight.

Dumbbell Chest Press Start

The Dumbbell row is great for strengthening and shaping your upper back.  Position your body on a bench as shown.  Start with your arm fully extended, pull the dumbbell up to armpit level and squeeze your shoulder toward your spine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dumbbell Row Start

The Biceps curl is great for strengthening and shaping your arms fully extended at you side as shown below.  Curl your hands to your waist while keeping your elbows close to your body.

Biceps Curl Start

 

Triceps Press down is great for shaping the back of your arms. Use the rope attachment and start with your hands upper chest level as shown. Press your arms to complete extension while keeping your elbows close to your body.

Triceps Press down Start

Triceps Press down Finish

As with any fitness routine, healthy eating is the most crucial part to see maximum results.  The eating plan that I recommend to my clients is Qivana's Metaboliq system.  My clients have great results following this system.  You can find out more information by following this link:  Metaboliq

Protein for Exercise, Fitness, and Athletes

Here's a blog post by Dr. Donald Layman, one of the brightest minds in sports nutrition.

Most athletes – both elite athletes and health conscious adults – recognize that protein is important, but still find the advice confusing. Athletes hear a lot of different messages about the amount of protein to eat and when to eat it. However, there are three simple messages about protein.

The first message is that all adults interested in muscle health need to consume multiple, daily meals each containing 30 grams of protein. To maintain healthy muscles, we must continuously make new proteins and breakdown old ones. The repair and replacement processes only occur during the 3-hour period after a meal providing at least 30 grams of protein.

Most Americans eat the majority of their protein in a single, large dinner meal, with less than 10 grams of protein at breakfast. Your morning high fiber cereal with 8 grams of protein is useless for muscle health. Adults should have three meals each day with at least 30 grams of protein, and breakfast is the most important meal of your day! The METABOLIQ Shake is perfectly designed to deliver the protein you need for a convenient and tasty breakfast.

If you’re a bodybuilder trying to achieve maximum muscle size, you may want 4 to 6 meals each containing 30 grams of protein. If you’re a runner, you still need at least 3 meals for muscle repair and recovery. Many injuries are the result of long-term wear-and-tear without adequate protein to allow your body to repair the damage.

Surprisingly, the 30-gram amount is the same for a small woman or a large guy and appears to relate more to blood volume than body size. If a meal contains less than 20 grams of protein there is no benefit to muscle health for any adult at any size.

Second, athletes should consume protein soon after exercise to accelerate muscle recovery and maximize the benefits of the exercise. Intense exercise produces muscle damage and muscle breakdown. This is part of soreness but also an essential part of muscle training and development. To optimize training and minimize soreness, athletes need to consume protein within about 1 hour after exercise. The good news is that exercise increases the efficiency of protein use, so after exercise, 15 grams of a high quality whey protein or egg whites will maximize recovery. The METABOLIQ bar was originally designed for post-exercise recovery and ideal for athletes at any age.

The third message is that protein before exercise does not help muscle development. Protein consumed ahead of exercise has no beneficial effects on the quality of the workout or the speed of recovery. Protein is also slow to digest and may make you feel full and sluggish if consumed too close to exercise. If you have a full protein meal, it should be at least 2 hours before exercise. If you exercise early in the morning and need something before you head to the gym, keep it light and try to get a balance of carbohydrates, fats and protein. Perhaps a Greek yogurt, or a combination of yogurt and granola, even a hard fried egg on whole wheat toast may work well for you.

Whatever your athletic level, be sure to get the most out of your exercise with the right amounts of protein at the right times every day.

Lean Muscle is the Key to Looking Tight and Tone

I see it all the time, people who spend hours doing cardio and still have a high percentage of body fat.  To burn body fat and to look tight and tone you must build lean muscle.  This is especially true as you approach your 40s and beyond.

Strength training is the best way to build and maintain healthy muscle.  While cardiovascular exercise is an important part of your fitness program, maximizing lean muscle should be the the foundation of your exercise routine.  Strength training is important because around the age of 40 you start to experience muscle loss. "If you don't do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose, you'll increase the percentage of fat in your body," says Dr. Edward Laskowski, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  Left unabated, you can lose up to 10 pounds of muscle each decade starting at age 40.

Loosing muscle is detrimental to your fitness because muscle is the component of your body that burns the majority of the calories you consume each day.  Therefore, when you lose muscle your body requires less calories to function.  Consequently, those extra calories you consume are stored as fat around your waist, hips, and other places.

Your body constantly burn calories, even when you’re doing nothing. This resting metabolic rate is much higher in people with more muscle. Every pound of muscle uses about six calories a day to sustain itself, while each pound of fat burns only two calories daily. This small difference can add up over time. In addition, after a bout of resistance training, muscles are activated all over your body, increasing your average daily metabolic rate.

Fortunately, strength training can mitigate, and even reverse the loss of muscle at any age.  Thus, increasing the amount of calories needed to function.  That’s why you hear some people say that their appetites increase after they have been strength training for awhile.  This is a sign that they are starting to build muscle.

As with any fitness program, a well balanced diet is a key component to seeing the best results.  Qivana's Metaboliq Weight Maintenance System is the best I've see in my 20 years in the health and fitness industry at teaching you balance in your diet in order for your body to burn body fat at it's maximum efficiency.  You can checkout this system by following this link: Metaboliq

The Power of Positive Thinking On You Health

Cover via AmazonIn my opinion a positive state of mind is the first and most important step in your journey for a more fit and firmer you. You have to clear your mind of all the negative images you have of aging. Your body conforms itself to the mental image you hold of yourself. Imagine yourself becoming weak and frail as you age and this is what you will become. Image yourself strong and full of life and this is what you become.

For example I know certain man I see regularly at the gym working out and every time I speak with him he’s always complaining of the aches and pains of getting old. He is my age but he looks and moves like a typical man 15 years older. He workouts out regularly but his body is conforming to the negative image he has of the aging process.

Your body completely rebuilds itself every 11 months. This means every cell in your body is replaced each year. Whether your body rebuilds itself with strong healthy cells or weak unhealthy cells starts in the way you think about yourself. Thinks of yourself as strong and healthy and your body will replace old weak cells with strong and healthy cells.

Think about this, medications do not heal your body they only aid your body in healing itself. Positive and healthy thoughts are more powerful in the healing process than any medication you can ever take. Thus, a fitness program built around a belief in your continued strength and fitness level as you age is core to you reaching your health and fitness goals.

Positive thinking not only works in your health and fitness it also works in all other areas of your life. You tend to draw those things into your life that you think the most about. Ever notice how people who complain a lot always have more to complain about and on the contrary people who are thankful always have more to be thankful for. It’s called the Law of Attraction.

The Law of Attraction works like this. You attract the things and conditions into your life that you believe to be true. If you believe that you catch a cold every year at a certain time you will catch a cold every year on that certain date unerringly until you change your belief about it. Try this experiment. Think of someone you do not like, that person that just rubs you the wrong way. Now, start wishing all the best for that person. Do this every day and watch how your attitude towards that person changes and how their attitude towards you changes also.

This is how I develop and keep a positive outlook in my life. I start each day with what I call my coffee time with God. I spend 15 minutes reading something inspirational while having my coffee and then I spend 15 minutes in silent prayer and meditation. In my prayer I thank God for my life, health, and strength and I ask for His guidance in all my ways. I meditate on all the blessings and the goodness God brings into my life. I release any animosity I have towards anyone and send them my blessings. I can’t put into words how wonderful I feel after this 30 minute ritual. I can only recommend that you try it and see the wonders it will work in your life.

Two Of My Favorite Shoulder Exercises

 

Arnold presses and lateral raises are two of my favorite exercises for strengthening and developing my shoulders.  Take a look as I demonstrate how to properly perform these two movements.

How to stay Forever Fit and Firm - Part 4, Strength Training

In my opinion strength training is the best thing you can do to improve your health and fitness level as you age. Strength training is so important because around age 40 you start to experience muscle loss. “If you don’t do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose, you’ll increase the percentage of fat in your body, “says Dr. Edward Laskowski, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Left unabated you can lose up to 10 lbs of muscle each decade starting at age 40.

The reason that loosing muscle is so detrimental to your fitness is because muscle is the component of your body that burns the majority of the calories you consume each day. Therefore, when you lose muscle your body requires less calories to function and consequently those extra calories you consume are stored as fat around your waist ,hips, and other places.

Your body constantly burn calories, even when we’re doing nothing. This resting metabolic rate is much higher in people with more muscle. Every pound of muscle uses about 6 calories a day just to sustain itself, while each pound of fat burns only 2 calories daily. That small difference can add up over time. In addition, after a bout of resistance training, muscles are activated all over your body, increasing your average daily metabolic rate.

Fortunately strength training can mitigate and even reverse the loss of muscle at any age. Thus, increasing the amount of calories you need to function. That’s why you hear some people say that after they have been strength training for awhile their appetites increase. This is a sign that they are starting to build muscle.

Increasing your metabolism isn’t the only benefit of strength training. It also, helps you:

•  Develop strong bones. By stressing your bones, strength training increases bone density and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.

• Control your weight. As you gain muscle, your body burns more calories more efficiently which can result in weight loss. The more toned your muscles, the easier it is to control your weight.

• Reduce your risk of injury. Building muscle protects your joints from injury. It also helps maintain flexibility and balance which is crucial to remaining independent as you age.

• Boost your stamina. Building muscle helps to increase your energy level.

• Improve your sense of well-being. Strength training can boost your self-confidence, improve your body image, and reduce the risk of depression.

• Sleep better. People who strength train on a regular basis are less likely to have insomnia.

• Manage chronic conditions. Strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, including arthritis, back pain, depression, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis.