A Positive Mental Outlook is the First Step to Good Health

I believe a positive state of mind is the first and most important step in your journey towards good health.  You have to rid your mind of all the negative images you have of aging.  Your body conforms itself to the mental image you hold of yourself.  Envision yourself becoming weak and frail as you age, and this is what you will become.  Imagine yourself strong and full of life and this is what you become.

For example a certain man who I see regularly working out at the gym always complains of the aches and pains of getting old.  He is my age but he looks and moves like a man 20 years older.  He works 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.  Think 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 could ever take.  Thus, a fitness program built on a belief in your continued strength and fitness level as you age is core to  reaching your health and fitness goals.

Positive thinking not only works in your health and fitness but also in all areas of your life.  You tend to draw those things into your life that you think about the most .  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 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 at that certain date until you change your belief about it.  Try this experiment.  Think of someone you do not like, a person who just rubs you the wrong way.  Now, start good thoughts for that person.  Do this every day and watch how your attitude toward that person changes and how their attitude toward you changes.

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.

After a positive mental outlook, strength training is the most important form of exercise you can do to stay healthy and strong as you age.  Download my beginners to advanced level strength training programs by clicking on this link: Forever Fit and Firm.

Two Exercises to Develop Arm Strength

You can develop strong, nice looking arms at any age.  Try these two exercises as a part of your strength training program.  Do 2 sets of 10 repetitions at a resistance with which the last 3 repetitions are hard to complete with proper form.

Alternating Dumbbell Curls

Alternating dumbbell curls strengthen and develop the biceps -muscles in the front of your arms- and forearms.  Hold a dumbbell in each hand (palms toward your body) at your side, position your feet shoulder width apart, slightly bend your knees, and hold your chest high.  This is your starting position.  Slowly curl one dumbbell rotating your palm outward toward your shoulder squeezing your bicep at the top of this motion.  Slowly return to the start position, and repeat with the other arm.  Your breathing pattern is to exhale as you curl up and inhale as you return to start.

Cable Triceps Press

The triceps press strengthens and develops your triceps - muscles in the back of your arms.  Find the rope that has a ball on each end, and attach it to the cable machine a little above your head.  Step back about a foot from the rope, position your feet shoulder width apart, and bend your knees slightly.  Grasp the rope tightly with your hands resting on the balls.  Bend your elbows to where your forearms are just above parallel to the floor and lift your up chest.  This is your start position.  Slowly press your hands down until your arms are fully extended and then slowly return to the start position.  To get the full effect of this exercise, it is very important to keep your elbows still at your sides throughout the movement.  Breathing pattern is to exhale as you press down and inhale as you return to start.

Regular strength training is the most effective way to preserve your muscle mass and increase strength as you age.  Checkout my beginners through advanced strength training programs by clicking on this link: Forever Fit and Firm.

Your Body is Designed to Move

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: regular 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.

While I don’t place myself in the same class with Jack LaLanne and Al Beckles I can tell you the value that healthy lifestyle habits have in my life. I am in my fifties and I keep my body fat at 12 percent or less. My fitness program consists of four strength training sessions each week. I can chest press a 100 pound dumbbell in each hand for 10 repetitions and leg press more than 1000 pounds, neither of which I could do in my twenties.

Strength Training 2 to 3 times each week is the best way to maintain your muscle mass and strength as you age.  Please checkout my complete strength programs from beginners to advanced by clicking on this link: Forever Fit and Firm.

Try These Two Exercises to Strengthen Your Core and Prevent Lower Back Pain

Strengthening the muscles of your core (lower back and abdominal) is an excellent way to proactively decrease the probability of developing lower back pain.  Below are two of my favorite exercises for improving my core strength.

Rollups

Rollups shape and develop the back of your legs and calves, and is also very good for improving core strength.  Lay flat on your back, extend your legs and place a therapeutic ball under your heels.  This is your starting position.  Lift your hips off the floor, and pull the ball toward your butt.  Now, press through you heels and lift your hips as far as possible.  Then, slowly return to the starting position.  Breathing pattern for this exercise is to exhale while rolling the ball towards you and to inhale while returning to the starting position.  I recommend starting with 2 sets of 10 repetitions

Seated Ball Twist

  

 

The seated ball twist is a very good exercise for abdominal development and strength.  Sit on the floor with a slight bend in your legs.  Hold a therapeutic ball with your arms fully extended in front of you.  Lean back slightly, pick your chest up high and pull in your naval.  Now, turn your shoulders to one side, and touch the ball to the floor.  Then turn to the other side, and do the same.  A complete revolution counts as one repetition.  Be sure you arms stay extended throughout this exercise.  Breathing pattern is to exhale as you touch the ball to the floor and inhale as you bring the ball across your body.  I recommend starting with 2 sets of 10 repetitions each way.

You can see my complete line of downloadable strength training programs from beginners to advance by clicking on this link: Forever Fit and Firm

Two of My Favorite Exercises For Upper Back Strength

I'm in my 50s and I know that strength training is the most effective way to build and maintain my muscle mass, and to keep my strength.  I strength train 3 to 4 times each week and I can honestly say, I'm stronger than I was in my 20s.  It's never too late to reap the benefits of this form of exercise, people in their 90s show improvements in muscle size and strength when start to lift weights on a weekly basis.

Below are two of my favorite exercises for keeping my upper back strong.

Lat Pulldown Close Grip

The close grip lat pulldown further strengthens and develops your upper back muscles.  First, sit down and adjust the thigh pad to a position that firmly fits over your thighs.   Next, grip the triangle attachment, sit down and place your knees firmly under the thigh pad.  Begin with your arms fully extended and your chest up high.  This is your start position.  Slowly pull your hands down to the top of your chest while squeezing your shoulder blades together.  Slowly return the bar to the start position.  Exhale as you pull the weight toward you, and inhale as you return the weight to the start position.

 Upright Row

The upright row strengthens and develops the top portion of your trapezius -the muscle at the top of your shoulders that attaches to your neck.  Perform this exercise at the cable machine.  Attach a straight bar, and placing the pulley at the lowest level.  Grip the bar at a position where your hands are about an inch apart, and stand upright with your arms fully extended.  Position your feet shoulder width apart, slightly bend your knees and lift your chest high.  This is your start position.  Pull your hands to the top of your chest, while keeping your elbows slightly higher than your hands.  Then return to the start position.  Exhale as you pull the weight upward, and inhale as you return to the start position.

Checkout my Beginners through Advanced Strength Training programs by clicking on this link: Forever Fit and Firm

How to Eat More Than Less to Lose Weight

The first thing that comes to mind when you want to lose weight is to go on a low-calorie diet.  As I have said before, diets don't work for long-term weight loss, in fact, they cause long-term weight gain. The main reason diets do not work is that up to 25 percent of the weight loss on a low-calorie diet is muscle tissue.  Muscle loss leads to a reduced resting metabolism, which greatly increases the difficulty of maintaining the weight loss.  Then, because of your lower body weight, reduced muscle mass, and slower metabolism, when you return to your normal eating patterns you find that the daily caloric intake that had previously maintained your body weight is now excessive and causes a weight gain that is mostly body fat.

Here's a different approach to help you lose weight and improve your body composition: Eat more, rather than less, especially when it comes to protein.  You naturally lose muscle as a part of the aging process, and when combined with muscle loss attributed to a low-calorie diet, the reduction in your resting metabolism is magnified.  Strength training is the most effective stimuli for increasing, and maintaining your muscle mass, but it requires protein building blocks to be most effective.  While 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight has been the normal recommendation for daily protein intake, new studies show that 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight may be more beneficial in building, maintaining, and reducing muscle loss, especially as you age.

Recent studies show that people from their 50s into their 80s who are strength training require at least 25 percent more protein than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) level just to maintain their muscle mass, and to gain muscle tissue, they need to consume 50 percent more than the RDA.  Thus, to prevent muscle loss which leads to a lower resting metabolism, and consequently long-term weight gain, it's necessary to consume more protein in your diet.  So remember, eat more protein than less for long-term weight loss.

If you are over 50, strength training is best thing you can do to prevent muscle loss, and to improve your strength.  Check out my beginners through advanced strength training programs by clicking here: Forever Fit and Firm.

Strength Training is Not Only For the Young

If you think that strength training is only for enhancing muscular development in the young, you are mistaken.  Results of a 2009 large scale study involving over 1600 men and women who performed one set of resistance exercises 2 or 3 days per week, for a 10 week period showed on average the participants added 3 pounds of lean muscle, and lost 4 pounds of body fat.  However, an even more astounding finding was that seniors (ages 65 to 80) developed muscle at the same rate as did those in the younger age groups.

As the above study indicates, strength training is just as effective for aging adults as it is for younger adults and it's never too late to start.  Men and women well into their 90s have seen similar results when they start strength training on a weekly basis.

If you are ready to start a strength training program, checkout my beginner through advanced programs for those over age 50 at Forever Fit and Firm.