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How’s your balance?

Has it changed in the last few years? Are you a little less stable in some movements and a bit more careful when walking down stairs or in other activities?

The ability for your body to automatically adjust movement to it’s surroundings, decreases with age as those helpful sensory perceptions like sight and hearing start to lessen in efficiency.

When all these systems including your sense of spatial awareness are working together automatically with your musculoskeletal system you can stay active and independent, preventing falls and improving your balance.

Like any other skill, we need to practise and train these senses to maintain functionality and ease of movement. Read the rest of How to Improve Your Balance

One of the most important elements of any training program is the effective strengthening of your core muscles.

If you haven’t exercised for a long time, it can seem overwhelming and intimidating to start over again.  Especially if you’ve got injuries that you need to be careful with and you’re just not confident with what you’re doing.

Sometimes, it seems that the after-workout soreness isn’t worth it – you feel so stiff and sore after that first workout that it’s hard to motivate yourself to keep moving.

Exercising isn’t a one size fits all proposition.  You might feel strong in some exercises and then feel hopelessly weak in another.  If you’ve come from a sedentary background you might find that any balance work is tough and that your core and abdominals are somewhere back in the 1990’s!

Let’s make it easy on you and take this exercise thing right back to basics.  And in the interests of getting you focused on the important stuff – getting moving! – we’ll show you EXACTLY how with a full follow along video straight from the 20 Minute Anti-Aging Solution for Her program.

Starters Program Workout B: (2nd of 3 workouts for beginners)

Equipment:  Chair, Low Step, Resistance Bands, Dumbbell
Duration: Allow for 20 minutes including warm-up

We’ve modified the workout so there’s no getting up and down off the floor but you can progress this a little if you feel stronger, to do any planks or pushups against a lower surface; you might prefer to use a higher step with step downs for greater challenge; and the load you use with those sneaky little Farmers Walks is up to you – these can be TOUGH when holding a heavy weight!

You can progress or regress this workout by making the intervals of work shorter or longer according to your fitness.  20 seconds will be a lot easier than 30 seconds and going up to 45 seconds of work might be just enough challenge to spice it up for you.  And of course you can choose the number of repeats that suits you.  If you last worked out in Year Dot – then start with just one circuit and practise your technique and good form.  Gradually add on another repeat per week.

If you’ve exercised before but just need to be careful coming back from injury – then shoot for several repeats monitoring how well you recover.

We’ve designed this workout to include balance challenges as well as core and functional movement.

You might even enjoy sharing this workout with a friend or family member who would benefit from an entry level style workout.

You can find 3 Starters Workouts and 9 Intermediate Workouts in the 20 Minute Anti-Aging Solution for Her program.

No-one wants to get “old” before they absolutely have to and these workouts are designed to keep you moving with age-appropriate exercise as well as nutrition tips.  You’ll get a whole bunch of bonus reports and anti-aging tips for women, along with nearly forty videos in the entire package!  We take you by the hand and lead you every step of the way.

As we age we inevitably lose muscle tone.  People who are physically inactive can lose as much as 3% to 5% of their muscle mass per decade after age 30. Even if you are active, you will still experience some muscle loss.

This is known as age related sarcopenia.  It typically accelerates from the age of 60 and is important because a loss of muscle mass leads to a decline in strength and mobility which in turn can lead to a higher incidence of frailty, falls and fractures.

And if you think this doesn’t relate to you yet– think again!  Researchers designate Older Adults as anyone from the age of 50!!!  And while sarcopenia is generally not a huge issue before the age of 65, it’s important to take preventative action as soon as possible.

Research would indicate that several factors are at play in the age-related loss of muscle including reduced muscle response to protein intake, changing hormones and for some, a reduction in the level of physical activity.

The primary treatment for sarcopenia is exercise, and resistance training in particular.  Research has shown that a program of progressive resistance training exercises can increase protein synthesis rates in older adults in as little as two weeks.

Your muscles crave adequate protein intake so as you age it’s super important you’re feeding your body the nutrients it needs.

Researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences examined how four different eating plans affected the muscle health of twenty healthy adults ages 52 to 75.

The researchers randomly assigned participants to one of four groups: Two groups followed the Institute of Health’s current recommended daily allowance of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. Half of them divided that protein equally between breakfast, lunch and dinner, while the rest ate the majority of their protein at dinner. The other two groups ate double the RDA (1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight), either equally or unevenly distributed between meals.

After four days, researchers found that the more protein participants ate – the better their bodies were at building muscle. Specifically, those who ate double their RDA of protein increased their rates of muscle protein synthesis (the process by which cells use protein to build muscle) and improved their net protein balance (the difference between muscle protein synthesis and protein breakdown).  They found that quantity not timing was of  main importance.

You can ensure adequate daily protein intake as simply as adding a serve of quality lean protein to each meal and snack in your day.  You might choose to include eggs at breakfast, lean ham at lunch, a snack of greek yogurt and berries, and a lean fish for dinner.

Your waistline will thank you too with more good reasons to increase your protein. A recent study from the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre found that when people ate high-calorie diets, those who got 15 to 25 percent of their calories from protein, stored 45 percent of the excess calories as anti-aging, healthy muscle.  Meanwhile, those who got only 5 percent of their calories from protein stored 95 percent of the excess calories as fat.

Bottom line – the greater your muscle mass, the more likely you’ll be able to stay with all the physical activities you’ve always loved and you’ll look and feel leaner and stronger too!

It’s the combination of great nutrition and progressive and age-appropriate workouts that make The 20 Minute Anti-Aging Solution for Her perfect for mature women. With modifiable workouts for all levels of fitness and nearly 40 videos in the entire program we’ve got all your fitness and nutrition needs covered.  Click here for the 20 Minute Anti-Aging Solution for Her.

One of the health and fitness catch phrases you’ll hear a lot is “listen to your body”.

So, what does that actually mean?

When it comes to good nutrition, you need to listen to your body to find out what suits your appetite; your digestion; your energy levels.  When it comes to workouts, same deal!  The way you train on Monday is not necessarily the same way you train on Friday.

Listening to your body with your training can mean quite a variance in the energy output and level of exercises you’re ready to embrace at any given time.

Early on in the week I feel like a million bucks – chin up burpees with box jumps –come at me!  By Saturday and my tenth workout of the week – it’s a totally different story.  I want to move but I need to take it easy!

I’ve given you two workouts to follow here.  Similar, but designed to adjust to your experience, your fitness, and your energy levels.  Learn to listen to your body each and every workout.  How’s your energy today?  Are you up for lots of impact or are you going to modify that aspect of the workout today?  Are you going with longer intervals or easing it back a little but still getting it done?  Are all your exercises going to be done on the floor or are you modifying to an incline bench?

There’s no shame in taking easier options when you need to – so long as you’re doing the best you can do at that moment in time.

This Intermediate/Advanced workout is one of my favourite bodyweight workouts from the Inner Circle membership program.  You can find it in the Female Fat Loss over 40 Fat Burning Workouts package – this is just one of over 80 days worth of workouts!  This’ll keep you out of mischief till summer is back!

Intermediate/Advanced Workout:

Equipment:  Jump rope, bench/chair (optional)
Duration: 35 minutes including warm-up           

This workout can be done in any order, in any number of sets – you just need to get all the exercises and all the reps completed.  For example, you might choose to do 10 squat thrusts at a time and move on to another less demanding exercise in between until all those reps are complete.  Every Single Limb rep counts as one rep, 50 lunges is be the same as 25 lunges per leg, 40 XBMC are 20 per side etc. With switch lunges – one forward and one reverse lunge equals one rep. 

Finish with a cooldown and stretch worked muscles.

And here’s a similar workout but modified so that all exercises can be done on an incline without getting up and down off the floor.  Still intense but you can ease back the effort depending on any injuries or your exercise experience or energy levels.

Base Level/Lower Energy Workout:

Equipment:  Bodyweight, Bench
Duration: Allow for 25 minutes including warm-up.  If you’re short on time or building up your fitness, try doing just one or two repeats of this circuit to start with.

 

You can find this workout in the brand new 20 Minute Anti-Aging Solution for Her program.  Perfect for beginner exercisers or anyone struggling to workout around injuries and reduced mobility.

I’ve got a great article from Guru Rick Kaselj today taking you through 4 Bodyweight Knee Saver Exercises.
These are 4 exercises that you can go through anywhere that help strengthen that knees in order to save your knees from knee pain or a knee injury.

#1 – Bodyweight Squat

The key things that we want to consider are the feet are wide, toes are slightly out, and ideally the hips just pass the knees so that you will be working your hamstrings and glutes as you are coming down and back up. 5 -10 reps is great.

#2 – Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift

It’s useful to hold on to something with this exercise, it’s not so much balance here, but strength and focus for the targeted muscles. Note the position of the exercise, the knee of the supporting leg is slightly bent or “soft” with head, upper body and leg in a straight line.  When standing she returns to a tall posture.

This is another great exercise for hamstrings and glutes (bum and back of thighs).  5-10 reps is a good range to shoot for with excellent technique.​

# Bodyweight Full Body Extension 

One way to think about this exercise is you are creating waves. First squatting and then driving your hands overhead like you are making a wave. Work on 5 to 10 slow repetitions. A partial squat is fine for this movement as well when cardio and speed is your main focus.

# Bodyweight Single Leg Squat

Use a support, because once again the focus is strength and control,not just balance.  Keep the upper body tall and foot flat on the floor. Sit bottom back and “hinge” through the hip to get depth in the bent leg.  5-10 reps is great, this is a strong exercise.

Well, there you go. Give the 4 Bodyweight Knee Saver Exercises a go and let me know how that goes for you.
If you are looking for a program to help fix your knee pain, then check out Fix My Knee Pain: 

If you asked me what’s the best way to deal with stress, I’d answer “exercise”.  I sort of believe that exercise is the answer to most of life’s big questions, “world peace?” – send ‘em into the boxing ring.  If only the United Nations had asked my opinion!!

I’ve got a ripper little workout for you today that should sort out the grumpiest of hormones or enhance your already good mood.  Good nutrition and good training together make for a happy woman! You’ll see I’ve allowed for beginners or those of you who struggle with changes of level and upped the ante for the more advanced exercisers too.

So whatever your stress may be,  I’ve got a ladder workout for you that will sort your woes, so put your counting hat on along with your workout gear and let’s get started.

Beginners will do these modified exercises:

10 – 1 reps

Incline Pushups (either wall or bench)

Prisoner/Cossack Squats

Incline Fast Mountain Climbers

Bent Over Bodyweight Rows

Stepping Jacks.

Intermediate/Advanced will step it up:

10-1 reps

Pushups on knees/toes

Prisoner Squats or DB Front Squats

Fast Mountain Climbers

DB Bent Over Rows or DB Renegade Rows

Modified burpees or Total Body Extensions

 

You’ll do the first circuit with 10 reps for each exercise. For both levels, rest only as required.  Catch your breath and keep the break short.  Next circuit you’ll do 9 reps of each exercise.  Take a quick rest and then back into the workout with 8 reps of each exercise. Continue reducing the number of reps each circuit till you finish on one rep of each movement.

You’re on the clock timing yourself for less than 20 minutes of work.  As usual, you should be aiming to set a time and beat it or at least match it every time you repeat this workout.

Exercise can be great stress therapy as well as for fitness and fat loss, but first and foremost NUTRITION should be your main focus.

It’s not about perfection, but progress.

Even if you keep taking tiny steps you’ll keep moving forward.

Find more workouts like these at Female Fat Loss over 40 or the 20 Minute Anti-Aging Solution for the more mature woman.