What You Think About Aging Determines How You Age

I firmly believe how you think about aging is just as important as your heredity and genetics in determining the way you age . Everyone will age, but not everyone will get old.  Ever met someone who seems to be ageless?  They could be in there 90s but are as full of life as any 30 year old.

There is no longer any doubt that what happens in the brain influences what happens in the body. When facing a health crisis, actively cultivating positive emotions can boost the immune system and counter depression. Studies have shown an indisputable link between having a positive outlook and health benefits like lower blood pressure, less heart disease, better weight control and healthier blood sugar levels.(1).  Read the entire article here

Do You Have Trouble Putting on Muscle?

My post are normally targeted for middle-aged adults and over.  However, I realize there are some people trying to gain muscle and strength regardless of age.  If you find it hard to gain muscle, here is an excellent article by Mass Gain Source which provides details of how to effectively put on muscle and obtain more strength.

How to Maintain Strength and Muscle as You Age

I can't tell you how often people ask me how I keep my strength, and maintain my muscle mass as I age.  I will be 60 this year and I'm stronger than I have ever been.  The three things that I credit for maintaining my strength and muscle as I age are; a daily spiritual practice, regular strength training, and getting enough protein in my diet.

Daily Spiritual Practice
I believe we all have unlimited access to a Divine Eternal Life Giving Source.  Each morning the first thing I do is to connect with my Divine Source, I call it my coffee time with God.  I thank God for my life, health, and strength, I read something inspirational, and then sit in silence basking in God's unconditional love.  I'm always amazed at how the stress in my life melts away like snow in the light of warm sunshine during this time.
I am convinced that if you feed your soul first, your mind and your body will also be nourished.  Since starting this daily practice over 15 years ago, I've only missed one day of work due to sickness.

Please click here to read the entire article.

Avoid These Workout and Post Workout Mistakes To Maximize Your Results

Below is a link to a very good and informative article about how to maximize your workouts written by fellow fitness blogger and bodybuilding enthusiast Mark Williams.
http://www.massgainsource.com/post-workout-mistakes/

The Importance of Breakfast

How to Develop Strong and Healthy Shoulders

Strong and healthy shoulders are key to overall upper body strength and ease of doing the everyday activities of life.  Your shoulders are the most mobile joints in your body and are involved in every upper body movement.  This mobility also makes your shoulders more susceptible to imbalances in strength and flexibility than any other joint.

To understand how to keep your shoulders strong and healthy you have to know a little about the anatomy of your shoulders.  The following is a simple a explanation of the anatomy of your shoulder joint so you can see the major players in it's health and  movement.  Please click here to see the entire post.

Hire a Personal Trainer to Get Your Fitness Program Started Right

With the new year comes your New Years resolution to get healthier and more fit. You are ready to start on the road to improving your health and fitness but you don't know exactly how to begin. I suggest you hire a personal trainer to get your fitness program started right.

While you can find good health and fitness information in publications, and online you will also come across some bad information that is good for not you.  One of the major benefits of investing in a personal trainer is that he or she can assess your physical capabilities and design a fitness program that gets the best results for you with very little chance of injury.. Also, they can educate you on healthy eating habits which is one of the biggest parts of seeing optimal results from your fitness program.

When hiring a personal trainer make sure they are certified by an organization that is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), have liability insurance, and have experience in the field.  Check with some of the trainer's clients both present and past to get their experiences working them.

Below is a list of the top 10 best personal trainer certifications as in Livestrong.com, written by JEREMY HOEFS. Please click here to see the complete post

Staying Fit and Strong as You Age

I'm a nationally ranked powerlifter and last week I had my 59th birthday.  I can honestly say that I'm stronger now than I was in my 20s.  People often ask me how my strength keeps improving as the years add up?  The answer to this question is having a right mental attitude about aging, doing regular strength training exercise, and eating properly.  Let me explain each of these items below.

The Right Mental Attitude
There is a difference between aging and getting old.  Everyone is going to age, but not everyone has to get old.  Getting old is more of an attitude than anything else.  You are as old or as young as you think you are, and this has nothing to do with number of years.  I've seen people in their 40s complain of getting old, and I've seen people in their 70s and 80s who look and act like they were in their 30s. While recently working out, getting ready for a national powerlifting competition someone approached me and said "just wait till you turn 40, you won't be able to lift like that anymore", to which I replied "age is just a number my friend, I've got you by 18 years".

Please click here to see the entire post.

Sacopenia, aka Muscle Loss Can Begin In Your 30s

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, and as a consequence they begin to lose muscle mass.  Your body is designed for physical activity, and the old saying "use it or lose it" is true when it comes to your body, especially your muscle mass.  Click here to see the entire post.

What Does Your Body Weight Really Tell You About Your Health

Your dietary habits significantly affect your body weight, body composition, and physical health. Recent studies show that over 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese predisposing them to various diseases and degenerative problems.  But what does overweight really mean?  By public health standards being overweight is weight that is higher than what is considered as a healthy weight for a given height as determined by your Body Mass Index or BMI.  Categories for BMI fall into the following:

Underweight =  less than 18.5  
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

It is generally assumed that people in the overweight and obese BMI categories are at a higher risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and a host of other degenerative problems. But, does BMI give the best indication of the health risk associated with your body weight?  I think body composition is a much better indicator for associating body weight with health risks because it takes into account both muscle weight and fat weight. Please click here to see the entire post

Maintaining a Steady Blood Sugar Level is Important in Your Effort to Lose Weight

Maintaining a steady blood sugar level is not only important for your health, it's also a critical component in your effort to lose weight. While your body breaks down all digestible carbohydrates into blood sugar, some are converted into blood sugar faster than others. Thus, some carbohydrates cause a spike in your blood sugar level causing you to feel hungry faster and to crave more sugary foods. Other carbohydrates are converted into blood sugar more slowly, leveling out your blood sugar and resulting in less hunger and food cravings.

For this reason, the Glycemic Index (GI) was developed to classify how quickly
your body converts carbohydrates into blood sugar as opposed to pure glucose. Glucose has a GI of 100, and all other carbohydrate-based foods are ranked against it. Foods with a score of 70 or more are considered to as have a high GI, while those with a score of 55 or less are considered low. Please click here to see entire post...

Over 40 Beginner's Strength Training Program

Whether you are 40 or 90 it’s never too late to begin strength training program  People in their nineties can still build muscle and become stronger.  My oldest client started working out at age 90.  Here is a perfect strength training program to start building muscle and getting stronger.

In this strength training program, you will work all the major muscle in your body.  This routine is designed for you to do every third day.  For example do this program Monday, Thursday, and Sunday etc…  Spacing out this routine is important to give your body a chance to recuperate between workout sessions.  Strength training tears down muscle fibers, so your body needs the proper recovery time to rebuild those fibers stronger.

You should do each exercise for two sets of 10 repetitions with at least one minute but no more that two minutes between each set.  For each exercise select a resistance with which the last three repetitions are difficult to complete.  Do this routine for two months.  Click here to see the entire post

Two of My Favorite Exercises for Strengthening and Developing Your Chest

No other muscle is as prominent in a youthful and fit appearance as a strong and developed chest.  What most people consider as the chest is composed of two muscles, the pectoralis major, and the pectoralis minor.  Below is a brief description of these muscles and their primary purpose.

The pectoralis major is a large, substantial, fan-shaped muscle that makes up the majority of the chest muscle mass. It originates at your clavicle, ribs, and sternum, and inserts into the upper portion of your humerus (upper arm bone from elbow to shoulder.)  The pectoralis major helps flex the shoulder joint, and moves your arm toward and across your chest. This is the muscle that gives the chest that strong and fit appearance in a front and side profile.

The pectoralis minor is a thin, triangular muscle that is found underneath the pectoralis major. It attaches at the 3rd, 4th and 5th rib, and it reaches to the scapula (shoulder blade.).  It is not a very large muscle but is gives the pectoralis major more prominence when it is developed and strong. Its job is to help pull the shoulder forward and down.

When exercising the chest I like to use a heavy movement to develop the pectoralis major followed by a lighter shaping exercise to target the pectoralis minor.  Thus, combining an exercise to build mass with a movement to shape and define the chest.  Below is a video of two of my favorite exercises to accomplish this task. Click here to see video

Why Strength Training Is so Important for Optimal Health, by Dr Joseph Mercola

Below is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Joseph Mercola, osteopathic physician explaining the importance of strength training for optimal health. This is one of the best articles I’ve read on the benefits of weight lifting. It’s a must read.

Research confirms that exercise is the best “preventive drug” for many common ailments and chronic diseases, from psychiatric disorders and pain to heart disease, diabetes and cancer. As stated by Dr. Timothy Church, director of preventive medicine research at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge.

“Exercise strengthens the entire human machine — the heart, the brain, the blood vessels, the bones, the muscles. The most important thing you can do for your long-term health is lead an active life.”
Unfortunately, many make the mistake of focusing on cardiovascular exercise to the exclusion of everything else. Strength training is overlooked by many for a number of different reasons. Women may think they’ll bulk up and look manly, the elderly might worry about it being too strenuous or dangerous, and parents might think weight training is too risky for their children for these same reasons.

The truth is, nearly everyone, regardless of age or gender, will benefit from strength training. Working your muscles will help you shed excess fat, maintain healthy bone mass and prevent age-related muscle loss, the latter of which can start as early as your 30s if you do not actively counteract it. As noted in a recent Time magazine article.

Please click here to read the entire article.

What Image Do You Hold About Age

Ever hear someone complaining about the aches and pains of getting older, or hear someone say, "I just don't heal as fast as I did when I was younger" ?  What mental image do you hold about age?  I believe your health is shaped by what you think about the aging process.

Most people believe in a decline in their mental and physical health as they age.  However, contrary to this belief, your body is designed to be healthy and strong all the days of your life given a positive mental attitude, proper nutrition, and regular exercise.   Do you know your body completely rebuilds itself every 11 months? That's right, within a year every worn out cell is replaced by a new healthy cell.  Click here to see the entire post...

Front Squats on a BOSU

The BOSU ball was invented by David Weck in 1999. Since then its popularity has exploded and now this piece of equipment is a staple in many fitness centers. I use the BOSU a lot with my clients  BOSU is short for ‘both sides up’. It is used for balance training, core strengthening, and reflex improvement. The BOSU ball isn’t really a ball, it’s actually half of a ball on a board.

Because the BOSU ball is unstable when it is used dome-side down, users are forced to use more muscles, thereby improving overall strength, and balance. The use of this unstable piece of equipment works not only the major muscles but also the smaller stabilizing muscles that are usually minimized during typical workouts. Click here to read more.

Pullups, Pushups, and Barbell Squats, Three Exercises For a Complete Workout

Recently I was asked if I could only do three exercises, what would they be?  After some consideration, I said I would do pullups, pushups, and barbell squats.  I explained that if you combined these three exercises in a workout you would hit all the major muscle groups of your body
Let's look at these three exercises and see if they would be a complete whole body workout.

Pullups target the major muscles of the upper back, the biceps, and the forearms.  The core muscles also work to stabilize your body to keep you from swing as you pull your body up and lower it down.  Take a look at the video below to see a properly executed pullup. Please click here to see the entire article.

An Exercise to Strengthen and Develop Your Shoulders While Standing on a BOSU

Your shoulders are the most mobile part of your body and they are involved in almost every movement you make. Thus, having strong shoulders is not only important in performing the activities of everyday life, but also in the prevention of injury and pain associated with weak shoulder muscles.

Your shoulders are made up of muscles that are primarily involved in the movement of your arms to the side, to the front, and to the rear of your body. Simple put, the muscles of your shoulders can be divided into three heads, and they are lateral, front, and rear.  It's crucial to strengthen the muscles of all three heads of your shoulders for optimal strength and injury prevention.  Read more...

Pre-Workout and Post-Workout Meals are Crucial to Optimizing Your Exercise Program

In order to workout at your best and see optimal results you need to eat the right balance of carbohydrates and protein both before and immediately after your exercise sessions.  The pre-workout meal provides the energy for you to exercise at maximum intensity, and the post-workout meal provides the nutrition your body needs for optimum rebuilding and recovery.

Pre-Workout
As a general rule, it's best not to eat immediately before a workout because your stomach will be trying to digest the food you've eaten at the same time you're exercising which may cause some feelings of nausea and GI discomfort.  Ideally, you should eat about 1 to 3 hours before your workout, depending on how your body tolerates food. It's best to experiment and see what time frame is best for you.  Click here to see the entire post...

Great Post-Workout Stretching Routine

Stretching immediately after a workout is a great way to improve flexibility and lessen soreness.  Here is one of my favorite post-workout stretching routines I do with my clients and with myself.

Shoulder and Chest Stretch

Stand tall with your chest held high.  Reach behind your back with both hands and interlock your fingers.  Pull your shoulders back and down until you feel the stretch.  Then hold that position for 30 seconds.  Breathe normally.




Triceps Stretch

Stand tall and lift your chest.  Reach over your head with one hand and touch the opposite side of your back.  Take the other hand, and place it on top of your elbow.  Now, gently pull your elbow down until you feel a stretch in your triceps.  Hold that position for 30 seconds, then relax and do the other side.  Breathe normally.  Click here to read the entire article...