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10 Motivational Tips For When the Weather Outside is Frightful

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Our lovely fall weather seems to be wasting away quickly into plain ol’ yucky rain and pre-winter crud. There is a good reason bears and other creatures go into hibernation during this kind of weather. To help you not fall into hibernation mode and to make the most of even the dreariest weather, we have come up with some great motivational tips to stick with your fitness regimen in the months to come.

  • Getting up out of your warm flannel sheets can be a bear when the house is cold. Set your programmable thermostat to heat up the house 15 minutes before you wake up so that you can get up and get going with one less excuse to hold you back. If your thermostat isn’t programmable, investing in a new one is just a few dollars and could just be the thing to keep you going through the winter…in addition to the energy savings you will see!
  • Set out all of your workout clothes, water bottle, and gear the night before. Pack your gym bag, set up your yoga mat, dumbbells, kettle balls, or Bosu ball so everything is ready to go and calling your name.
  • Write up a variety of messages on colorful slips of paper with reminders of how good your feel after a workout, pics of yourself at your fitness best, motivational quotes, or the many health benefits of working out. Whatever you know are YOUR greatest reasons for working out, jot those down. In the morning, pull one slip out at random and surprise yourself with your “Workout Inspiration of the Day”
  • If it is the cold weather that is keeping you inside, have your coziest hoodie waiting to go in the dryer and warm it up just before leaving the house for the gym.
  • Re-create morning sunlight with a Wake-up-light to help set your inner clock to get moving even when it is still dark these winter mornings. Setting your body clock to get going these dark mornings is a huge help.
  • Plan your workout breakfast the night before so you are less likely to cast about for something to eat in the morning. When you start off your day in “healthy mode” you are more likely to continue it by not skipping out on your workout.
  • The night before, check out a few workout videos on YouTube for some fresh inspiration. Just one new idea is all it takes to get you excited to try it out the next morning.
  • Get a workout buddy. Even if some days your schedules prevent you from working out together, just agreeing to a text check in and knowing your partner will be counting on you to also check in, will keep you both going strong.
  • Set up a fresh, new workout music playlist so that the next day you have new tunes to get you jazzed.
  • Print up a pic of a great holiday outfit you will reward yourself with, that awesome new bike, or the entry form for that spring triathlon or Tough Mudder race you have been meaning to enter. Keeping your eyes on the goal (literally) can keep up your motivation and focus

Whatever floats your boat (especially for you kayakers); learn to adopt the tricks and motivational tips that keep you in the game and on top of your workouts these dark, cold months ahead. Let us know what motivational tricks work for you!

Featured photo credit Wikipedia Commons.

Tips for Weight Lifting and Body Building as You Age

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As we age, our bodies naturally begin to lose muscle and bone density.  Continued bone loss can lead to osteoporosis, muscle and joint pain, and injuries as well as increased risks of developing chronic metabolic diseases. However, it is no reason to throw in the towel, as there are things we can do daily to slow down or even stop that process.  Studies long have shown that weight training not only slows down muscle and bone loss, but it can increase your body’s protein and metabolite levels; both of which stabilize the immune system. According to the Journal of Applied Physiology, performing prolonged resistance type exercise training improves functional performance as well as increases skeletal muscle mass in the elderly.

If you have not done much weight training before, it can be intimidating and even bewildering to head to the gym and just start. We highly recommend setting up an appointment or 4 with a certified personal trainer.  Most gyms have them on site or asking around can get you some good recommendations.  Weight training can do amazing things for your health, but can also cause life long injuries if not done correctly.  Do NOT assume that badass muscle-bound individual is lifting correctly or with good form.

Life long legendary body builder Ric Drasin has some great tips to weight training in your 50’s and beyond. He has learned as he is aging to do lighter weights and more sets, as well as using more machines and less free weights than what he used as a body builder.

Screen Shot 2014 01 18 at 3.23.32 PMOnce you have met with a trainer to gain a basic understanding of how to lift safely and with good form, how repetitions and sets work in your favor, then here are some tips to get you started with confidence and success for body building as you age. Check out this article for more details and tips from a pro.

  • Set a regular schedule and you are more likely to keep it. Put your weight training into your calendar as appointments and schedule other events around them. It won’t be long before it is a regular part of your week and you will miss it when you skip it.
  • Avoid mini workouts! Yes, it is possible to get a full body workout done in 20 minutes, but this should be saved for when you are in a pinch, not a regular routine each week.  Especially when you are first getting started building your fitness through weights, it takes months of regularly planned routines to be comfortable and familiar with what works for your body.
  • Make sure you have comfortable, moisture wicking clothing and quality workout shoes for support. They may cost more up front, but proper support will help prevent injuries and protect your joints.
  • Don’t forget a good warm up, stretching, and cool down.  Weight training on “cold” muscles can directly cause injuries.  No short cuts!
  • Leave the ear buds behind-at first.  When you are first learning the movements and form, you need to have full focus and concentration.  It can be too easy to get lost in your tunes and also lose good form.

Here is a motivational video with training tips for real life women ages 50 and over.  Joe Hashey has some great tips for getting started, preventing injuries, and understanding repetitions and sets.

What are some things that have worked for you as you have started or continued your weight training programs in these years over 50?  We would love to hear your stories.

Workouts at Work!

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Some days it is impossible to get that workout in in the morning or after work when we are facing work deadlines.  Americans have desk jobs that require sitting at the computer for hours on end.  It is not helpful when our employers don’t have a company gym onsite.  We don’t advocate substitution of “office workouts” for your normal routine on a regular basis, but they can be helpful to keep us moving throughout the day instead of allowing our bodies to go stagnant. Here are a few to keep the blood moving through your veins and muscles challenged, with some workouts at work.

Office chair squats: With your feet a little more than shoulder width apart, stand in front of your office chair. If your chair is on wheels, take extra caution or use a standard chair. (Make sure that as you squat, your knees should not push forward past the front of your toes and your back should remain straight. When you do this, your butt pushes back and gives you the best squat form.) Lower down slowly, but do not quite sit on the chair, keep your back straight and eyes forward and hold for a few seconds, then slowly return to standing.  Do 2 sets of 10 reps.

Inner Thigh Adduction:  Use a rolled towel or sweater to squeeze between your thighs during this exercise.  Keeping your abs tucked, squeeze the towel as hard as you can for a few seconds.  Try to work your way up to 10 or 20 seconds.  Release, then repeat again 3 sets of 20 reps.

Leg Extensions: If you have some ankle weights, this exercise is even better! Sit straight in your chair, toward but not on the front edge of the chair, resting hands on the arm rests or chair sides. Flex your quads as you extend your leg straight out in front of you. Hold for 3-5 seconds, and then curl back down to starting position. Repeat 15-20 times before alternating to the other leg. Remind yourself to do this one throughout your day.

Office Chair Ab workout: Make sure this is done on a wheel-less chair. Sit up straight in the chair with your shoulders back.  While sitting on the chair front edge, place your hands on the arm rests. Keeping your back straight, lift your knees up to your chest and then slowly back down. Repeat 15-20 times for 3 sets. Not allowing your toes to touch the ground in between each rep will provide a greater challenge.  You can vary this to challenge your obliques by rotating your knees to the side on the way up and down.

Desk pushups:  Stand up and position yourself a few feet from the front edge of your desk with your feet together.   With your palms about a shoulder width away, keep your back and legs in a straight line and lower yourself to the front edge of the desk. Push back to start position for as many reps as possible, aiming for 15 reps.  Do 3-4 sets

Desk triceps dips: Similar to pushups, face away from the desk with palms down, keeping your feet together. Bend your elbows and bring buttocks forward so you can dip straight down along the front of the desk.  Dip until your upper arms are parallel with the floor. Push back up to start position.  Both the dip down and push back up should be slow for optimum results.

If you have a private office, rather than a cubical, most of the above exercises are easy to fit into your day here and there.  Here is another total workout that can be done at your office. Also, consider replacing your office chair with an exercise ball and incorporate those exercises into your day.

Safely Intensify Your Workout Routine

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You may have found yourself at a place in your workouts where you are not feeling as challenged as you once were, or perhaps you just want to turbo-charge things and see more results faster.  If this is the case, then increasing the intensity and method in your workouts is for you.  The trick is to intensify your workout routine safely so that you don’t risk injury that would side line you and defeat the whole purpose of increasing your workouts.

Combo Training: Combo training is when you combine an assortment of aerobic exercises and resistance training. This a very demanding form of intensity training and can lead to over training and/or injury, so use caution and even a personal trainer to coach you through until you gain a safe understanding of how to proceed.

You will perform a resistance training set and follow it with a short burst on moderate intensity aerobics for 30 seconds.  You then repeat for another two sets. For example, perform a set of squats, and then do a 30 second burst of burpees, and then back to a set of squats/burpees. This cycle should be done in three “sets” (squats/burpees as one set). Combo training really torches fat and whips you into great cardio conditioning quickly. Here is a sample You Tube workout to get you started.

Supersets: If you are weight training, one method to increase intensity and strength results is known as Super Sets.  A superset is when two exercises are completed in sequence without a break in between them.  It is important to pair up two agonist/antagonist muscle groups in the set pairs.  For example: quads/hamstrings or back/chest.  This technique will noticeably increase muscle strength and result in your ability to train at higher intensity levels.

You will be more efficient if you set up agonist/antagonist stations before you begin so that once starting, you can go from pair sets to the next station with only a 30 second rest in between.  Here is a great YouTube superset workout to get an idea of what is involved.

 

Photo source, Wikipedia Commons.

Photo source, Wikipedia Commons.

HIIT Training for runners: Runners who desire to increase both speed and endurance, do so with interval or HIIT training.  It is important to already have solid base of mileage as well as speed work before starting this type of training.

Run nearly full out for 10 to 60 seconds, followed by a rest/walk (or jog) period. The rest period should be one to four times the length of the high intensity burst.  Essentially, your rest period is just enough so that you are recovered to do the next repeat at the same speed with good form.  This challenges your cardio system to get stronger and pushes oxygenated blood through your body, making it available for you muscles. Be sure you are warmed up and flexible before starting these workouts.

This same idea of HIIT training can be applied to cyclists, rowers, and even hiking.

Mixing it up challenges your body and can jump start you out of that plateau or even boredom you may have hit in your workouts.  At the very least, you will find yourself in better conditioning! Do you have a tried-and-true method to intensify your workout routine safely? Please share it in the comments area below! We’d love to hear from you and share your experience with the Fit After Fifty community.

Happy training!

Starting to Exercise: Steps to Take After Years of Inactivity

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Perhaps you found yourself here because now you are retired and have more time on your hands and you spent a few too many years on the career path without making time for good health and fitness practices.  Your family and doctor are all saying you need to make some changes. That time is now.

Are you hesitant to start this late in the game after years of relative inactivity? Many recent studies are showing that seniors who start exercising show improvements in all major physical areas and report an improved quality of life.  Not to mention that they are just having more fun!

Whatever the reason, we are glad you are here and we can help encourage you to a vibrant, healthy lifestyle. There are a few things to keep in mind to help you get a good start and not be sidelined with injuries.

Before you start First and foremost get a complete medical check up that includes blood pressure, cholesterol, joints and back evaluation if you have had pain in these areas. Your weight should be evaluated as well as a bone density scan if osteoporosis may be a concern, skin cancer screening, and a cardiac stress test. You and your doctor may not feel you need all of these, but this is a pretty comprehensive list.

If your doctor detects blood pressure or other heart issues, it may be helpful to get a heart rate monitor to help you to know how much you should or should not push yourself when first starting out.

Depending on what type of activities you plan to go for, make sure you have the right gear, especially shoes.  A poorly fitting shoe or one designed for running when you plan to play court sports can get you off to a painful start or worse, cause injuries.

Check out Silver Sneakers, the nation’s leading exercise program for active older adults. They offer access to more than 11,000 locations nationwide, guidance, encouragement and info to keep you exercising in the years to come.

The Sky is the limit! There are almost endless opportunities to choose from when deciding what to do to be more active.  You can join classes at a gym, join a hiking club, neighborhood walking groups or park and rec sports teams such as softball. Try out some new activities such as kayaking, stand up paddle board, and show shoeing.  Stop and think of the activities over the years that have caught your interest, but you have never tried.  Try one!  Or two, or ten!

Let’s get moving!  Now that you are cleared to go, keep the pressure off yourself and just get out and move.

Consider joining a gym for support and a source of certified instructors and classes to get you started. Many gyms offer senior discount rates as the aging population of boomers is rapidly growing. Personal trainers offer not only motivation, but are an excellent source for guidance in moves, safety, realistic goals.

Check into your local park and rec department for classes and activities that offer not only outlets for challenging yourself physically, but a community of people who are doing the same.

If you are not taking a class or joining a gym, start with some power walks at a pace that is a challenge for you, but won’t leave you in muscle pain and soreness for days after.

  • The American Heart Association recommends that inactive people gradually work up to exercising three to four times a week for 30-60 minutes at 50%-80 % of their maximal heart rate.
  • Increase your activity level gradually over the course of 6 weeks. 20% a week is a recommended.
  • Incorporate exercise into your daily life by taking the stairs instead of elevators, park in the farthest spot. Vacuum more often and do it vigorously! Shovel your own snow and mow your own lawn.
  • Learn good, basic stretching and practice daily whether you workout or not.

Regardless of what you choose, remind yourself that this has been a while.  It may take a bit for you and your body to get used to one another and challenging it to new and strange movements.  Be patient with yourself and remind yourself every day that you are making a difference.  Go for it!

Finding the Right Personal Trainer for You

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We all know the many benefits of regular exercise.  Sometimes, however, we need that extra push and motivation to keep us at it.  Many times it is just plain smart to have the sharp eye of a professional to keep us in good form, lifting properly and maintaining good body position to help prevent injuries.  Personal trainers will not only help to coach you in regards to cardio and lifting, but good ones will address all areas of a healthy lifestyle for you, including nutrition and diet.

There are many highly qualified trainers out there to choose from.  It is important to understand the various certifications and professional organizations that certify personal trainers, as well as the credentials offered so that you can better assess if a personal trainer and his/her certification are a good fit for you.

  • Photo source, labeled for reuse.

    Photo source, labeled for reuse.

    Are they certified and if so, what are their credentials?

  • The National Commission for Certifying Agencies makes sure that certification programs demonstrate adherence to specific standards for the industry.
  • The American Council on Exercise (ACE) provides fitness certification, continuing education, exam prep for a variety of specialty certifications.
  • The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) provides education, certification, support materials, conferences with a more specific focus on strength and conditioning.
  • The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) provides education and certification for CPT, HFS, or CGEI instruction.
  • The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) is one of the most highly recognized standards in personal training certification, offering A CPT certificate with specialized focus credentials such as fitness nutrition, weight loss, senior fitness, corrective exercise and more.
    • Once you have determined their certification, find out how much actual experience they have and what kind. Hours logged is important, but equally, if not more important is what has been their focus. Sports-specific, age groups, re-hab, or lifestyle management. Make sure you choose a trainer whose focus and experience is a good fit with your fitness goals for yourself.
    • Ask about their cost and also availability.  How far in advance do they require to book sessions.  Do they charge by the hour or a flexible fee for service approach? Some trainers are happy to schedule semi-private sessions with clients of similar fitness levels and goals.  You can save considerably with this option.
    • Have a clear understanding of cancellation policies and additional.
    • Many trainers have specific training styles as their predominant focus.  CrossFit, TRX, Pilates, YogaFit are just some to start. Be sure that their style is compatible with your goals and find out how much they are willing to blend the two.

Using some of these guides will help you to not only find and decide on the best fit personal trainer for you, you will rest assured knowing you did your homework and are getting the best value for your fitness dollar.  Most of all, your personal trainer choice will play a critical role in keeping you on track and injury free on your road to a more fit lifestyle.

A Perspective on Spinning from Live Love Flow

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By Jaime Scates Schmitz from LiveLoveFlowYoga.com

OK, now it’s time for honesty. I do not love spinning the way I love yoga. But I see it as a necessary evil. Before Live Love Flow, I operated a yoga studio for 3.5 years that offered just yoga (Mountain Flow Yoga in Madrona). Yoga all by itself was never quite enough for me. I had a spin bike at home, which I used often and I ran to keep the cardio conditioning up. As mountain biking is the second greatest love of my life, just behind yoga, the addition of a spin studio seemed logical. If I lived somewhere that riding 3-5 days a week up big hills on the dirt was a possibility, you might not find me in the spin studio. But since I have to hoof it up to the mountains with my bike packed away in the car, that’s just too many hours out of the day. So you’ll find me in the spin studio a lot! And don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the music, I LOVE the energy, I appreciate the intensity and therefore the efficiency. And well, it does make me feel AMAZING!

Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons.

Photo source: Wikipedia Commons.

Spinning is an amazing way for people who are getting older to start or complement a fitness routine:

  1. When you’re inside on a stationary bike, you’re not going to fall or get hit by a car. There’s very minimal risk of needing a hip replacement from falling!
  2. When the bike is ridden in the ergonomically correct way, there’s zero impact on the joints and it keeps them lubricated by using them.
  3. Spinning increases serotonin and endorphins so we feel amazing.
  4. The ticker needs that cardio conditioning.
  5. One of the leading contributors to aging is the decrease in production of HGH (Human Growth Hormone). Don’t get a shot; you can become dependent and stop making your own naturally. But DO high intensity interval training – we do a ton in spinning. ”High intensity burst training in which one’s heart rate bursts above their anaerobic threshold (best established by VO2 max testing) for 30 second intervals five or more times in a workout. This engages super-fast twitch muscle fibers, which release HGH naturally.”
  6. You can really go at your own pace. The teacher will set a cadence and a gear; if it’s too hard, scale back. No one’s pressuring you; it’s your ride!

So my number one goal in life is not to be super fit, super fast or super awesome on the bike. It’s to be super conscious, super awake, super alive, FREE and vibrant. I’ve wrapped my brain around how spinning supports this for me.

As we’re riding, the mind puts up a lot of resistance: it’s really HARD in the class, so the noisy mind loves to complain, to pull us onto the path of least resistance, to bitch and moan. I see spinning as an amazing opportunity to “shush” that part of my mind. If I can cultivate equanimity to that suffering and silence the mental bulls*#t to face the challenge, I win!

Spinning also teaches an amazing lesson about transcending/transmuting our drama and our trauma. I don’t want to scare anyone, but I don’t want to minimize how hard we work in there; it’s kind of nuts! However, the minute we walk out of the room we feel AMAZING and we put the story of the ride and all of the suffering it evoked into the past where it belongs. We don’t relive the ride over and over and over again the way we do everything else that hurts, i.e. heart-ache, legal battles, neglect, addiction, being “wronged” by another, failure, embarrassment, suffering etc. Nope, we hop off the bike an we pop that ride into the past.

Now THAT’s a powerful lesson in movin’ right on through, moving higher and increasing consciousness.

I do think that anyone who’s using just the spin side of the studio is missing the whole point of Live Love Flow, but heck, they’re welcome and maybe the energy that’s being created in that amazing space, sincerely dedicated to evolving consciousness will seep into their field and we’ll find them in the yoga studio.

Namaste!

A Perspective on Yoga from Live Love Flow

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By Jaime Scates Schmitz from LiveLoveFlowYoga.com

When Tony first asked me to do a piece for FitAfterFifty.com I was reticent: #1, I’m not 50 or even that close and #2, I cringe a bit whenever someone refers to me as a fitness guru . . . I am not.

In response to #1, I thought ‘What the heck do I know about being fit after fifty?’ And in response to #2, barring a car falling on my child, you will probably never see me lift a heavy thing.

I pushed through resistance item #1 when I thought of my amazing parents and my cute mom, who while still vital, attractive and lovely, is seeing her body wear down. Then I thought of my friend, student and current teacher-trainee, Nancy Richards, who at 64 moves like a 30-year-old in yoga, crushes it on the spin bike, hikes, bikes and skis. WOW. I’ll take that.

I pushed through resistance item #2 because I LOVE yoga (yes it’s a work out, but at its core it’s a spiritual practice of which the work-out is a tiny portion). I’m also happy to ride indoors to stay conditioned for mountain biking (my second greatest love behind yoga) and I believe all of the research about intense cardiovascular exercise increasing HGH, endorphins, serotonin etc. – I’ll take all of that because there’s nothing that I love more than feeling AMAZING.

As soon as Tony and I started the interview I knew it was a great idea. It was an opportunity to talk about my passions to a new audience.

Watch the interview here:

Yoga

Yoga is amazing for EVERYBODY. It’s especially amazing for bodies that want to age gracefully. In yoga, we move through our entire range of motion and all of our little accessory (rarely used) muscles. We also work tremendously hard on the core, which protects and lengthens the spine. Flexibility and balance are two of the first pieces of athleticism and health that people lose as they age, and yoga helps to improve those areas as well.

We spend a lot of time upside down in down-dog, forward-folds and inversions. These poses have amazing benefits to calming the parasympathetic nervous system and they are officially working against gravity – take that sagging skin! We do work incredibly hard, doing a lot of lunges, chattaranga pushups, side planks etc. We are using our own body weight to build bone density, which is another must for people over fifty!

Photo credit: Pixabay

Photo credit: Pixabay

So that’s just a tiny list of the health benefits of yoga. But my favorite thing about yoga in its ability to invite people to age gracefully is simply the fluidity and grace we introduce.

We hold so much tension and density in our bodies because it gives us the illusion of control. We also hold all of our pain, failure, drama and trauma as little energy nodules in the body called samskaras.

Everything in the universe, including humans, flows in an energetic pattern called a tube torus. When the tube torus is open and flowing freely we are clean, clear, bright, free and alive. In nature we can see examples of clean energy patterns flowing together. Nature balances, syncs, synergizes and coalesces with itself. We are intended to synergize in the same way and our tube torus is supposed to flow freely.

Sadly, due to all of the density, tension and samskaras we hold in our bodies (as well as a lot of external influences from the electromagnetic soup we swim in and the SAD – standard American diet) our energetic patterns are generally not flowing properly. We can see in the high rates of addiction that are currently in existence (I just read that while only 10 percent of Americans are truly addicted to alcohol, a full 30 percent are alcohol-dependent). Other examples include depression, numbing with the dumbing of American TV, the acceptance of hard-core violence and soft-core porn into our living rooms every night (not mine!), environmental degradation, poverty, famine, the sex trade of children, war, genetically modified food, disease etc. By all of these things, we see that we are clearly NOT syncing with nature in the way that was our birthright, in the way spirit intended for us.

In yoga, we move through our entire energetic sphere with grace and fluidity. When we do this with a burning desire to connect to consciousness, to cleanse our habits and our patterns, to free ourselves from our rigidity, to move higher, we just might make a little progress in that 60 – 75 minutes on our mats.

There’s something about moving with fluidity and grace, the way we do in yoga that also breaks down linear thinking. It helps us confuse the mind, move in a circle, play. Einstein said, “Confusion is the brink of discovery.” When we’re confused, doing something new, and pushing our edges we create new neural pathways (we’re pretty addicted to the ones we always use, and most of those stories aren’t so pleasant). So get a little lost, get a little confused, try something new, change your brain and explore that brink of discovery!

If we all work hard on cleaning up our own energy, elevating our own vibration, bringing ourselves into greater alignment and higher consciousness, then sooner or later that nasty list from above will start to shrink and lose it’s hold over humanity.

Vacation Fitness: Maintain Your Fitness Regimen on the Vacay!

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You have been working hard during your workouts, making good choices with nutrition and work-life balance, and you have seen improvements in your health over the last year. But then vacation and summer months arrive… with that comes schedule changes, opportunities to eat out, celebrations and gatherings. All of that is good and important, but can oftentimes make it difficult to keep up your normal healthy routine. It takes some advance planning and determination to succeed, but you CAN go on vacay and keep your commitment to fitness alive with a vacation fitness regimen.

First of all, don’t just give up and tell yourself you will pick things up once vacation is over. The summer months can be a series of mini-vacations, and that can mean a couple of months of no workouts if you just throw in the towel. You have worked so hard to get to where you are and backward slides can be discouraging. Be realistic and accept that it may be difficult to maintain your regular routine; but promise yourself to allow for an “adjusted program”. As with most things worthwhile, it is a mindset.

Tour vacations can mean schedules from morning to evening, but there are ways to sneak in more activities than you think. Here are some tips to make your vacation successful from a fitness point of view, as well as the sight-seeing side of things:

  • Do some checking around online before leaving home. You may be surprised to find a wide variety of workout facilities beyond just the hotel’s bare bones treadmill. Many fitness clubs, studios, and even personal trainers offer special arrangements for out of town travelers. Local parks have jogging trails and some lakeside facilities offer stand up paddle board yoga!
  • Your home gym may have sister gyms in other cities and for a nominal fee, you can take advantage of the services.
  • Photo credit Flickr user mikebaird

    Photo credit Flickr user mikebaird

    Think like an adventurer! Make sure one or more days of your vacay include a bike, kayak, scuba, or surfboard rental. Consider trying a totally new physical sport or experience since livin’ it up is what vacation is all about.

  • Pack along resistance bands in your suitcase. You can get an amazing full body workout with these things! Add a killer ab session, a jump rope and you are covered!
  • Don’t forget your workout togs and shoe options. This way you have removed any reasons to avoid workouts.
  • Make a diversion! As you are seeing the sights, take the long way around, or get off the tour bus completely and do it on foot. Find the closest hills or stair climb and make that a part of your route.
  • Paddle in the pond! Most hotels have at least a small pool. Even if you are not on a beach vacation, take along your suit and get some laps in or a full body water workout.
  • YouTube-it! The sky is the limit with just about every type of workout video for you to follow along with in your hotel room.
  • Ditch the rollers. Roller suitcases, that is. Pack all your essentials in two cases and carry balanced weight to and from your flight, hotel room, etc. This makes for a great upper body workout in the same time you would spend in transit, anyway!
  • Pedometer-it! Get a pedometer and/or fitness tracker to keep yourself aware of steps and activity level. This awareness will likely cause you to choose more active options and make better meal choices.
  • It’s all in the family. If your vacation involves visiting family and friends, instead of always gathering over food and drink, make walking dates to catch up and get some movement at the same time. Even casual hikes at nearby scenic destinations will make your visit that much more treasured.

The options are endless and the change of pace may just make you adopt some of these as a part of your fitness plan even once you return from vacation-land. It’s not an obligation, but an opportunity for adventure!

Stay Motivated and Reach Your Summertime Fitness Goals

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Well, we’re finished with June and maybe you are not finding yourself where you expected to be when you first set your fitness goals a few months back. Perhaps your momentum has, well, lost speed?  If so, or you just need an extra boost to keep pushing toward your fitness goals, we have come up with some pretty good tricks to stick to the bathroom mirror or add to that nifty fitness app on your phone.

  • Put out your workout clothes and gear the night before.  The first thing you see when you wake up helps you to remember and keep on track as well as pushes the excuses aside.  Keep your ankle weights in the bathroom and yoga mat set out in front of the TV with the DVD in and ready to go. These visual reminders send strong messages to your brain and help you to keep workouts a priority.
  • Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons.

    Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons.

    Use goal setting/fitness sites and let your convictions drive you.  Keep to your weekly exercise goals and you donate to your favorite cause; fail to stay on track and donate to a cause or politician you do not support. On Stickk, a site to help you stay faithful to your exercise goals; you pledge the amount and cause depending on your budget and goals. On Plus 3Network, you choose goals from a previously set list of corporate sponsors and if you meet you goals, they pay to the charity you signed up to support. Just knowing that your progress and success benefits those causes that matter most to you will keep you accountable.

  • Re-think your mental hurdles. Take time to make a list of the phrases you typically tell yourself when you are sabotaging your workout routine.  Then turn each one around with a new, positive approach. Have the new ones ready for when you are tempted to dwell on your old mental hurdles. “I am too worn out at the end of my work day to head to the gym.” Re-think it to: “I am tired, but a workout will energize me and I will sleep better tonight after getting in a workout!  Or, “It is taking me forever to see any results!” Re-think it to: “Each day I work out is one more day of building my heart and also bone density; two things I cannot see but are happening…the visual changes will come!”
  • Invest in your workouts.  Not having the right clothes and gear can provide roadblocks to staying on track with workouts. When you spend the money for great looking clothes and gear you make an emotional investment as well a financial one and it keeps you involved.  Cool looking workout clothes and fun new gear makes the workout more fun, anyway!
  • Join an online workout tracker or social networking site.  This can provide social support when done via FaceBook or other social networking sites.  Online fitness trackers help with a sense of accountability. Fitness magazine provides a free tracker. Chronicling your workouts and progress provides support and accountability and you are less likely to skip when others are cheering you on. If you don’t want all your “friends” on Face book looking in on your workouts, start a group page or event and begin inviting those you know that would be interested, and they can invite those in their community.  Before you know it, you will have an army of support and encouragement behind you.

“Believe in yourself and all that you are.  Know that there is something in side you that is greater than any obstacle” Christian D. Larson