Walking and Excercising for Health
As we reach middle age , exercise and walking becomes more important than ever for our health . By the time we reach our 50’s, more than 40% of men and 80% of women spend no time exercising or even walking , this is an alarming trend of depreciating health . According to the American Heart Association , that’s on the same level as high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and cigarette smoking. Many of us are already on an exercise regime that includes walking for our health . But for those of us who aren’t, it’s certainly easy to find excuses not to engage in such activity. You know the favorite ones: work all day and after dinner, you just want to sit on the couch, relax and watch T.V. Besides you’re not in shape and exercise is just too much work, let a lone walking around several blocks after that huge dinner! You may need to overhaul your thinking! There’s easy ways to get started on an exercise program and one of those is walking . You can begin at any age and it definitely isn’t boring! Walking is a tremendous way to experience God’s beautiful earth , while at the same time meeting new friends along the way as you excercise and improve your health. It doesn’t require an investment (except for some time and a good pair of walking shoes ) and you stand to profit a great deal from feeling better and having more energy from improved health . Brisk walking is almost as beneficial as jogging! Both are a benefit to health and fitness . However, your chances of getting injured are lower for walking and it still burns calories. Jogging has a much greater impact on your knees, hips and joints . We all are destined to get older but if you walk on a regular basis, you can cut your rate of physical/health decline by as much as half! Personally , I enjoy the time walking and excercising to reflect on life’s happenings as well as strategize business deals. Other times I enjoy listening to an ipod , either enjoying my favorite music or listening to a podcast while walking and excercising for my health . You’ll be surprised how fast you can work up to 2 or more miles of enjoyable walking while enjoying an ipod (just keep the volume at a safe level for your hearing ). If you do not already own one try Apple iPod touch 16 GB (2nd Generation)
at Amazon.com. If you're more of an MP3 fan try Zune 120 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)
at Amazon.com
Other benefits
are improved cardiovascular health, arthritis, osteoporosis, reduced cholesterol, less back pain, slower deterioration of muscles, fewer varicose veins, and improved health
and stamina.
Where do you begin
? It’s as easy as walking
out the door! Think of all the creative ways you can begin a walking
program just by making alterations to your daily routine. Examples are getting off the bus sooner and walking
the rest of the way
, parking your car a farther distance in the parking lot and walking
at lunch time. You can start
with as little as ten minutes a day and continue to add five minutes every day until you’ve worked your way up to thirty minutes or as much as an hour or
two
. The key is to make walking an enjoyable excercise so that it becomes
a habit for your health
.
. You do that by making it a ritual and walking
every day.
For those who are already
in a fitness program
, walking
can add a new dimension. One way to better increase your cardio and fat burning workout is to try Nordic Walking
. You’ll burn fat calories as it allows you to engage in a smooth constant motion and you can sustain it over a longer period of time versus a strenuous aerobic workout. Fat can’t be burned
without oxygen and an intense workout won’t give your body enough. The International Nordic Walking
Foundation who promotes Nordic Walking
was founded in Finland in the year 2000. According to the INWA, Nordic Walking is one of the fastest growing fitness
sports in the world. Nordic Walking
, which utilizes walking poles
, raises your heart rate into a moderate intensity zone and you don’t have the feeling of working any harder than regular fitness walking
. You don’t have to walk faster and if you’re walking
with a partner who can’t walk at a faster pace, you’ll get a better work
overall workout just by adding the poles!
Another great benefit
of Nordic Walking,
is it provides more stability for those who experience knee problems. If you have neck or shoulder problems, Nordic Walking
will loosen the knots that create tension. In addition
, if you love walking
and excercising
on the nature trails, think of the stability the poles will add for you!
Racewalking
is another great way to increase your fitness and
cardiovascular health
. The Walking Site serves as a good resource for racewalking. You must learn to use proper technique and practice
to be an effective racewalker. The Walking
Site mentions that racewalking is a progression of steps so taken that the walker makes contact with ground so that no visible loss of contact occurs.
Power-walking
(also known as speedwalking) uses the same technique but is considered more recreational than racewalking. Either way
, they are both excellent forms of walking exercises to increase your health
and yield the same health
benefits such as a great aerobic workout. They also burn more calories than fitness walking
or running.
Keep in mind
, it is particularly important to watch your heart
rate if you are a beginner
. If you can talk while you’re walking,
you aren’t overworking. You should walk fast enough to reach
your target heart rate but not be gasping for air
. Target heart rates vary by age
. For a person 55 years of age, your heart rate zone (50-85%) is 83-140 beats per minute. Your maximum heart rate is 170 beats per minute. As a beginner
, aim for the lowest part of your heart zone (50%) and gradually build up to 85% of your maximum heart rate, as recommended by American Heart Association.
The great thing about walking
is there is something for everyone in all age groups and at all excercise
levels. You just have to find the best program for you and reap the benefits! Remember, “You Can Do It
!”
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Comments (0) 02.05.2009. 16:45
Fitness Equipment and Gyms
Your choice of fitness equipment and gymsis an important decision in the goal of reinventing your health after 50 . You want to be equally comfortable with not only the fitness equipment , but also the various gyms available. It’s no wonder these days fitness buffs are moving towards home based gyms. Not only are they economical (some models are in the price range of an annual gym membership) but they are also time savers. The key is to find the right fit for your budget, space constraints and fitness goals, with respect to fitness equipment . Bowflex offers a good line of fitness equipment and you’re sure to find one that fits your budget. One of their top sellers is the Bowflex Revolution Home Gym . It’s definitely top of the line in versatility with the high quality Bowflex is famous for and takes up very little space . The Revolution Home Gym is designed to allow you to do over 100 exercises with up to 400 variations and gives you a great overall body workout. It uses Spiraflex Resistance Technology which will duplicate the benefits of free weights . The Revolution Home Gyms has 220 lbs . of resistance standard upgradeable to 300 lbs for upper body workouts and up to 600 lbs for lower body workouts . This fitness equipment comes complete with a preacher curl attachment , a foot harness with 5 positions, leg press and hand grips. Complete with an instructional manual and a DVD workout video. These gyms are still available new or you might even locate one on the used market. If you’re on a reasonably tight budget but don’t want to sacrifice quality in your fitness equipment , a good option is the Bowflex Sport
. Priced in the $850 range when they were new a few years back (they have sense been retired from the Bowflex line up, but can be found quite easily on the used market)
, the Bowflex Sport
was a great compromise to the higher priced Bowflex models. It allows you to do 60 gym quality exercises
and comes with an adjustable seat. A few other beneficial features are the Power Rod with 210 lbs of Resistance. This comes standard but
is easily upgradeable to 310 lbs or 410 lbs
. There is also a seat on a sliding rail
for aerobic rowing (this is a fantastic feature), leg press ability and leg curls while seating.
These gyms
come complete with multiple cable
and pulley positions
which allows you the flexibility to customize your workout to perform certain exercises according to your height. If you have space constraints
, a nice feature of this fitness equipment
is the ability to fold it up
and store it. When using it, you’ll need a space of 8 ½ feet by 6 ½ feet to get a decent workout. Another great value offered by Bowflex gyms
, is the Bowflex Classic Home Gym
. It has the same Power Rod Resistance as the other top models by Bowflex
and you can do up to 30 exercises
. The key to the Power Rod Resistance is that you’re not inclined to feel the joint pain often associated
with using the free weights
. This model offers
201 lbs of Power Rod Resistance with 201 lbs and the ability to increase, 4”roller cushions that are upholstered for leg extensions, horizontal bench
press, hand grips with triple functions for lat pull downs
, a rowing station (great for cardio)
and evenmore, you can easily fold it up when not in use. Bowflex offers
all of this in one package for usually less than $850.
Personally, I own and have used the Bowflex Sport for approximately two years during the course of reinventing myself. 
I have found this style of fitness equipment
it to be most effecient and plenty demanding along the way. However, since this model has been rtired as mentioned above and if you can't locate one on the used market or you just want a newer uprgaded version of Bowflex home gyms with all the latest bells and whistles, you might want to consider Bowflex PR3000 Home Gym
at Amazon.com. I personally bought my Sport Bowflex through Amazon.com and was very pleased with the price and shipping costs. You'll find their Bowflex gyms range in price from $599-1,299. The Bowflex PR1000 has a lot of nice features and is only $599 at Bowflex PR1000 Home Gym
.The cadillac version, the Bowflex Extreme 2 SE is $1299.99 at Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE Home Gym (Refurbished by Nautilus)
is a great value. The selections offered from Amazon.com do change periodically, so if you're in the market...don't miss out!
Another model with respect to gyms
and in a somewhat lower price range is the Weider Max
Ultra
(formerly called the Advantage Crossbar and the Crossbow). The Weider Max Ultra
offers 65 workouts
which, like the Bowflex Sport
, is a great value for the money. It also offers convenient storage
as the bench folds up. It has 240 lbs of resistance
so you can effectively build muscle
.Another piece of fitness equipment
to consider is the Max Ultra gyms
that use a technology they call the CRS which stands for Compound Resistance System
. This will give you a full range of motion
and increase your strength training. Another benefit of the Max Ultra gyms
is the Quick Change Resistance
System
. Do you want to keep your heart rate up
? This might be the answer due to the ability of the user to move quickly from one exercise to another on this fitness equipment
. The Max Ultra
also boosts of a lat tower, a leg developer and and
integrated rowing seat
. Home Gym Reviews gives a good review on this model as well as other home gyms.
For those who
are not beginners and can invest a little more on fitness equipment
, a good choice would be a home gym model without resistance bars and is a weight stacked machine. A consideration with a good price point would be the Powertech Workbench Leverage Gym WB-LS
. While over 20 exercises can be done
, (which doesn’t sound like many compared to the Bowflex Sport and Weider Ultra Max
) it still is enough to get some very thorough training. You can lift a huge amount of weight with these gyms
and not need a spotter
which is a big plus. If your goal is to build
muscle,
you can do squats as the bench can be rotated 90
degrees
. A few drawbacks
with this fitness equipment is that
you have to buy your own weights
and it takes a few hours
to put this gyms
together as there are a lot of bolts and parts as stated in Home Gym Review.
Most of these gyms
can be purchased in the $400-$1000 price range and each has their pros and cons. The key to your success
with whatever you choose to purchase is that you use
it consistently and you maintain proper techniques to get the best results.
I have included a few other home gym
link ideas in case you want some other ideas for fitness equipment
. The most important goal
is to find a system and stick with it!
Comments (0) 19.04.2009. 20:59
To Lose Weight
To lose weight, I have dubbed my unique approach to reinventing your health after 50, The Tripod Health Induced Weight Reduction System because there are, simply stated, three areas of concern in order to lose weight . In progression they are: introspection, exercise enjoyment and eating styles (notice, there is no mention of diet .) Now, as an added bonus after you start putting The Tripod System to work and even more importantly, realizing results, you’ll want to click on the page tilted “supplements, vitamins and protein powder drinks”. Restrain yourself from looking for or clicking on this page as this will be one of your 1st external rewards (see below). I know it doesn’t sound like much…but wait until you hear the inherent benefits. A lot of my system is wrapped around psychology strategies, like Food for Thought, Psychology of Eating and intrinsically rewarding ones self for accomplishing steps along the way as you set out to lose weight . However, I do endorse an injection of external rewards along the way as certain increments of accomplishment are met. I have learned a long my journey of various ways to lose weight that if the weight loss was a result of external forces ,like that of friends or family, I would yo-yo . Definition of yo-yo dieting is you simply you take it off and over time put it back on. There are some inherent dangers to yo yo diets as Medicinenet.com reveals. How many have experienced this great phenomenon? My guess is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 95% of you, unfortunately. Indeed, you remove the external accolades and the weight begins to reappear gradually, resulting in your health depreciating at the same time. Conversely , when we are driven internally to improve our health, the accomplishment of meeting a goal becomes self satisfying (we’re doing it for ourselves) and we don’t look to outside forces for praise or encouragement…we begin to intrinsically reward ourselves. It is this intrinsic feeling that gradually becomes interwoven with the goals to lose weight and realizing better health over all. Your intrinsic connection to your inner self might be variety of things like feeling better, fitting in to some favorite clothing that you out grew, improved self esteem, better feeling of self worth, less lethargic, more energetic and the like. I’m sure you get the concept by know. External rewards can and should be used when reaching incremental goals that are realistic and attainable . Ideas would be: after losing 5lbs treat yourself to a movie, next 5lbs treat yourself to an ice cream sundae (you deserve it!) Next 10 lbs , buy yourself (something special you’ve been wanting), not more than $50.00. When you lose weight of 30lbs and keep it off for a month you should intrinsically feel self satisfied for having more energy and being able to wear some clothes in your previous wardrobe. When you reach the goal of losing 40lbs you should treat yourself to special weekend away. For instance , if you like golf…play that course you have always dreamed about and fits your budget. I think you get the idea by know of what differentiates external from internal (intrinsic) rewards , so when you reach your mega goal of the 50+ lbs of weight loss, you come up with the reward. Hint, start imagining and thinking of what it will be know…this breeds tremendous intrinsic motivation and keeps one focused on success. Remember , You Can Do It ! Now, let us get started by doing some introspection.
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Comments (0) 26.03.2009. 17:47
Reinventing Your Health After 50
Welcome
to how you can start reinventing your health after 50.
Just a few short years ago I was personally some 50 1bs over weight, out of physical shape (as in shortness of breath walking uphill or level service for a mile or more). I experienced numerous headaches, restless sleep, fuzzy thinking, restless leg syndrome, and a total cholesterol count of 245
and was diagnosed by my physician as being pre- diabetic. According to Centers for disease control and prevention, diabetes is just one of many diseases that can result from being over weight, especially medically obese. Further more, I was overly sluggish and had a complete aversion
to exercise, numerous physicians’ and physical therapists’ had encouraged me to start an exercise program in my mid thirties, but after all…what did
they know?! When I did feel guilty enough back in my 30’s and tried walking around a block I would get a burning pain sensation in my upper left leg causing me to quit prematurely. What a great excuse this was and one that could be used extensively. I seriously knew I needed to change my ways and incorporate exercise in to my life style, but I never had the motivation to do so as I felt overwhelmed by an out of shape body. After all, the physical condition I had come to accept had come about over a span of 20 years of exhibiting a complete aversion to exercise and enjoying among many other fat producing foods, that 2nd bowl of ice cream in the evening! Reinventing your health after 50 and especially losing some 50 lbs in the process needed to become my passion, but it was the farthest from my thoughts of possibilities and accomplishments. Even before the visit to my doctor to hear the test results, my body was telling me I needed to change my ways and start treating it better. And, quite frankly, I was tired of feeling as I had, functioning on three out of four cylinders and experiencing the aforementioned maladies above. I think in everyone’s life there is a defining moment that causes one to reevaluate their health and life style. Prior to my doctor’s appointment I had been reading numerous articles on America’s poor health, lack of exercise and poor eating habits that were resulting in Americans being obese and pre- diabetic (for some, diabetic) in their youth and early adult years. Of course, there were many other complications associated with these physical conditions as revealed in the aforementioned Centers for disease control and prevention website; however, they are too complex to discuss in the scope of this writing. If you become serious about reinventing your health after 50 , I strongly recommend you subscribe to one of the most informative medical research reports I have seen. It is offered monthly through The Blaylock Wellness Report. As you can see my defining moment was being primed a head of time, so when the doctor stated to me that my test results revealed I was pre-diabetic and my cholesterol level was hovering around 245 points my personal wake-up call was in motion. What added tremendous impact to my decision to take charge and pro actively do something about my situation was the 13 words the doctor said to me? They went something like this. “Don’t worry, just take these two drugs I’m prescribing and you’ll be fine” And that was the solution to the medical condition I was experiencing, DRUGS! No mention to me about a change of life style habits such as food and exercise, just the good old pharmaceuticals thereby treating the symptoms and not the cause. Unfortunately, this is what happens more often than not, the patient is not encouraged to change their life style as a way of effecting change in their over all health. Well, I left the doctor’s office with the two prescriptions to treat my high cholesterol and pre-diabetic conditions. My defining moment hit me like a brick in the forehead with such impact that it set a chain of events in motion. I pondered the question of what negative impact and effect the prescribed drugs could or would have on my physical well being. In other words, would the cure be worse then the cause? I wanted to know what harmful side effects, if any, could be generated from a program of such pharmaceuticals, you know the side effects given to you in an accelerated manner after each pharmaceutical ad on television . Well, after uncovering the published information and possible side effects at Drugs.com I was convinced more than ever there must be a workable alternative to get the results I needed with out the dangerous slide to UN warranted pharmaceuticals. All the research I had uncovered was pointing to a much needed life style change in my self defeating core beliefs about exercise, eating and supplements. These self defeating ways can cause a serious negative impact on your successful outcome as evidenced by this article on Weight loss and Faulty Thinking. I decided having turned “50” that the time was overdue to correct a possible serious event from occurring in my health and quality of life. Thus, I coined the phrase “Reinventing Your Health After 50 ” and it gradually began to catch on with friends and associates in the same age bracket and experiencing similar "self defeating core beliefs." The purpose and goal of this website is to share with you how I set about some 2 years ago to start reinventing my health after 50. Through the journey I have developed a passion of sharing with others the information I have gleaned from various websites, exercise and exercise equipment. My slogan is simply, “You Can Do It!” ‘Cause if I can do it…I know if you're reading this and putting the steps in motion that can like wise be successful at reinventing your health after 50. . I encourage your feed back and questions you have a long your journey to reclaiming your health. Enjoy this site; it’s your “safe” space to come to in secrecy for motivation, encouragement and the sharing of ideas as you as you transition to a healthier you.
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Comments (3) 18.03.2009. 15:54