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Concluding my answer to fitness instructor Lisa – more on the ideal fitness class for 55+ …
Don’t take it personally if you see students avoiding certain moves you are teaching. If there is opportunity before or after class, ask why privately. Just reflecting on the students in the last class I attended, one woman had frozen shoulders and couldn’t raise her arms much higher than shoulder level. Another had a difficult time getting up after mat work due to positional vertigo. Several had bad knees or backs. You get the idea.
When you know what the issues are, you can design a class that will work for everyone. Be sure the routines hit all the fitness basics: flexibility; strength; balance; and aerobic capacity. If you teach the same group of students three or four times a week, you can do this by focusing on strength one day and aerobics the next.
Personally, I prefer a similarly-balanced class every day but with varying moves. My ideal class contains about five minutes of warm-up, 20 to 25 minutes of aerobics, five minutes of cool down, 20 to 25 minutes of toning/strength work (standing and mat), and five to 10 minutes of stretching. I also enjoy a class where the entire 40-45 minute middle section is aerobics combined with strength work (like Body Sculpt or The Firm).
Boy, it felt good to get that all off my chest! Thanks again for asking Lisa. Your 55+ students are lucky to have you.
Tags: fitness, age-appropriate exercise, fitness basics
More on the ideal fitness class for 55+ …
The sound level is very important for a 55+ class. Many of us are starting to have difficulty hearing, so it may surprise you to learn that the complaint I hear most frequently from my hard-of-hearing friends is that the music is TOO LOUD. It needs to be loud enough that we can hear the beat but not drown out the instructor’s directions. For people who wear hearing aids, music that is too loud can actually be painful.
Generally, lower impact is better for a 55+ class. Anyone who still has strong joints and sufficient energy can take it up a notch. Center your class around lower impact moves but provide higher impact variations for those who want them.
If you provide any step work, keep the moves fairly simple and avoid a lot of turning steps. Hard-of-hearing students need to be able to watch you and they can’t do that if you have them turn their backs to you too frequently. Also, it is easy to trip on the step if the moves get too complex. Most of your students should use just the bench or one set of risers. That’s sufficient to get the heart rate up.
Tags: fitness, age-appropriate exercise, step
Hi Jean~
I am a 38 yr old fitness instructor and teach a 55 and over class at an adult community. I enjoy your skincare articles/newsletters, but was especially interested in your exercise predicament with the instructor that didn't take his class's level into consideration.
I would love to know any advice you could give me to make my 55+ class a success. (i.e.more dancy moves, more/less repetition, current music or older music?...any personal preferences?)
Thanks Jean.
Glad you are feeling better!
Lisa
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Read my thoughts about 55+ fitness classes.Tags:
fitness, age-appropriate exercise, rap
In May (5/5), I mentioned that I injured both hamstrings at the gym when a new young teacher came in giving a young people’s class (despite the fact that most of the students are around my age – which is 61). I’ve been nursing my hamstrings ever since and substituting safer moves for Willie’s kickboxing thrusts and bouncy stretches.
I finally decided that: 1. Willie was not going to change his routine to accommodate the class; 2. I’m not going to get any younger; 3. my hamstrings will never heal if I keep doing what I’ve been doing; and 4. I’ve been getting depressed over this whole situation.
I quit the gym and went back to working out at home, which is what I used to do when I was working full time. I am so much happier. My hamstrings are finally loosening up again. I feel better after a workout, rather than worse. Since all of my video instructors are so well-qualified, I can count on a safe and effective workout every day. I’m back to working out five days a weeks for a full hour. Yay!
I don’t know why it took me so long to do something about a negative situation. Is that just human nature – to hold on hoping a situation will correct itself – or is it just me? In May I wrote …
While it’s essential to exercise as we age in order to maintain strength, aerobic capacity and flexibility, it’s just as important to know our personal limits. Take it from one who is learning the hard way. Read my article on Age-Appropriate Exercise and do as I say – not as I do!
I think I’d better go re-read that article myself.
Tags: age-appropriate exercise, safe workout, video workouts
Being a couch potato is not going to help you stay young looking. Appropriate exercise is a great antiaging tool. It has been shown that exercise forces a natural release of the Human Growth Hormone with all its antiaging benefits.But age appropriate exercise does more than that. Learn more about age appropriate exercise.
Tags: antiaging exercise exercise
In my last blog, Age Warrior Part 3, I shared my own fitness comeback story. If you’re not in the best physical condition you could be, please keep reading for more information that may motivate you to get off the couch and get moving.
Think of a complete exercise program as a triangle. Each angle is important to make the whole. The three essential elements of a complete anti-aging fitness program are: flexibility moves to maintain full range of motion and good balance; aerobic exercise for heart and lung strength; and resistance or weight training for bone health, muscle tone and overall strength.
Appropriate exercise is a great anti-aging tool. In addition to the above, it has been shown that exercise forces a natural release of Human Growth Hormone with all its anti-aging benefits. Age appropriate exercise does more than that. It helps your skin stay supple and smooth. It reduces stress levels and aids circulation.
Knowing all this, how could anyone choose to be a couch potato?!
If you’re still not convinced, please read this study report in which infirm 80- and 90-year olds were put on mild strength-training regimes. All needed canes, walkers or wheelchairs before the study.
Consult your doctor before undertaking any new exercise program. Tags:
age warriors exercise health and fitness
I didn’t intend for this to be a series. It just worked out that way, thanks to readers who read the first two “Age Warrior” blogs and visited my website for more information. Thus far, I’ve touched on anti-aging: 1. nutrition and eating plans; 2. nutritional supplements; and topical anti-aging skin treatments. In Part 1, I also mentioned: exercise and stress reduction. Today I’ll talk a bit about exercise for the aging body. Please don’t be offended. We start aging the day we are born!
Difficulty getting up from a chair was what motivated me to address my own declining physical fitness. Once I was able to rise again unassisted, I wanted to build up my quads further to support my knees.
You may laugh at this, but I have an electric toothbrush that times out after two minutes of brushing. I started doing deep squats while brushing my teeth every morning.
When that became easy, I tried holding the squat as long as I could. When one two-minute squat became easy, I added bicep curls and tricep kickbacks with a five pound weight in one hand and then the other; then I moved up to an eight pound weight.
The point is, start where you are. When a move becomes easy, do something to make it more difficult again. You need to keep challenging your body; just the way you need to keep challenging your mind. Use it; or lose it!
I’m now back to teaching aerobics. I teach two one-hour classes a week and take three more for me. In my Power Sculpt classes, I heft more weight than anyone else in the class. Some of the students are in their twenties. Not bad for a sixty-year old, hey?
Consult your doctor before undertaking any new exercise program. Tags:
age warriors exercise health and fitness
If you haven’t visited Gaiam (one of our newest advertisers) yet, please do so today. Gaiam is a “lifestyle media company” featuring yoga, fitness and more. The site takes a while to load; so be patient. Once you get there, you’ll see why. Each media product has a three to four minute video clip preview to help you choose those that are right for you.As our bodies age, we need to adjust the focus of our fitness routines. Years of high-impact movements like running and many sports activities have taken a toll on joints. Some of us battle the joint pain of arthritis, rheumatism or other degenerative conditions. After age 35 the body begins to lose muscle mass. Unless we fight back!Many people respond to these physical challenges by moving less rather than more. Soon they start to lose balance and flexibility. I’m begging you, don’t give in. If you do, you choose a more rapid physical decline.Preview some of the offerings on Gaiam. Decide what type of exercise program you could stick with and would enjoy. Then check with your doctor to make sure it is appropriate for you.I just received my first order from Gaiam. The yoga mat is thick and of excellent quality. I also got resistance bands for strength work and several DVDs in the yoga and Pilates lines for strength, flexibility and balance. A couple of them have low impact aerobic segments; so all the fitness bases are covered.Now I just have to start using them. See, I know it’s not easy to get started again. If I can do it, so can you. Let’s exercise for life!Tags: keep moving, Gaiam, age-appropriate exercise, yoga, Pilates
Most of us face too much stress in our lives, be it job related, money related, marriage related or simply a response to the constant bombardment of bad news from around the world.
Stress can be treated by tranquilizers and anti-depressants.
But you can also combat stress with exercise. And it need not be a hour every other day at the gym. You can literally walk away stress.
Walking is a great exercise. Just about anyone, no matter age or physical condition can start walking more. It doesn’t stress the joints as much as running or aerobics. And it doesn’t require any special equipment. A pair of comfortable shoes and set of comfortable clothes is all you need.
Walking provides the same aerobic benefits as running, loosens the joints and keeps your body supple and vigorous. If you are under a lot of stress a walk around the block or on a nearby beach can take your mind off your worries and give you something more peaceful to think about, as you commune with nature.
If you have any sort of medical condition or have not exercised in a while, it would be a good idea to talk to your doctor first.
Read more about anti-aging exercise.
Tags: antiaging exercise exercise walking
As we age, exercise becomes more important. It keeps the joints flexible and helps fight off the aches and pains and chronic diseases associated with aging.
Exercise is also good for the complexion. Regular exercise will nourish the skin with fresh blood, oxygen, and nutrients.
You will enjoy the increased blood flow and better circulation that come with working out and that will help the body to draw out toxins, improving the condition of all your vital organs, including the biggest one, your skin surface.
As you get older, your skin starts losing its elasticity and becomes thinner and less resilient. This is the result of the breakdown of collagen, causing wrinkles and that tired haggard look that makes us look – especially women – look older than were are.
Physical activity can actually help to promote the growth of collagen in your skin cells, which will plump up your facial skin and make you look younger and more vibrant. It will also restore some of the loss vitality of youth, which alone will make you seem more vigorous and younger.
Read more about the beauty benefits of exercise.
Tags: antiaging exercise exercise exercise and complexion
First, you need to work hard enough to get your heart into the aerobic range. Strength training is anaerobic; it doesn’t require much oxygen. When you start moving and breathing more rapidly, your heart pumps faster to get the oxygen into the bloodstream and to the muscles.
Experts say you ought to exercise aerobically at least three times a week for 20 minutes straight. Four to six times is better. Aim to work consistently in the 4-6 range on the Scale of Perceived Exertion (SPE).
You should be moving vigorously and feel like you’re exerting yourself but still be able to carry on a simple conversation.
If 20 minutes on the treadmill bores you to tears, you can also get a good aerobic workout running, biking, swimming or taking an aerobics class. Or you might want to try interval training. Work in the 8-9 SPE range for 3-4 minutes, then slow down to 3-4 SPE for 3 minutes. Repeat three times.
Interval training is more stressful for your heart than working 20 minutes in the 4-6 SPE range, so be sure to check with your doctor before beginning a program of interval training, especially if you’re over 45, overweight or have any heart problems.
The second part of the answer is that you can benefit your heart even more by extending your aerobic workouts to 30 minutes or more and putting in at least two hours a week. Such extended aerobic workouts boost HDL. According to a recent compilation of studies involving over 1,400 subjects, the gains in HDL cholesterol levels translate to a 5% drop in men’s heart disease risk and more than a 7% drop in women’s heart disease risk.
Tags: antiaging tips, exercise your heart, burn calories
As I mentioned Saturday, you can dramatically improve health and mobility even into your eighties with a minimal strength training program. That raises the question of how much exercise is enough.
There is no simple answer. Perhaps a better question would be “How much exercise is enough to ….? If you’re specific about your exercise goals, the answers are pretty clear.
To Burn Calories
Any exercise you do, every move you make – from fidgeting to rolling over in your sleep – burns calories. The more calories you want to burn, the more you must move. Further, you can boost your calorie burn for each minute of exercise by building muscle mass.
Think of your body as a car which burns gas. Your fat cells are the car’s gas tank. Fill the gas tank with gasoline (stored fat) and it just sits there until the car requires fuel. More muscle gives your car more horsepower and, as you know, muscle cars burn more fuel.
To carry the analogy one step further, the fat in your body does not burn calories. Like gas in the gas tank, it just sits there waiting to be burned. The only sense in which it makes you burn calories is that a heavier car requires more fuel to lug the heavier load. When you overload your car, you can't wait to get home and unload because of the strain the load is placing on the engine, the shocks, the transmission ... Think about it.
Tags: antiaging tips, exercise, burn calories
It’s time to take some of my own advice. Don’t ya just hate when that happens? We had a change in aerobics instructors at the gym. The new teacher two times a week is young – I mean in his thirties. He teaches a young people’s class (despite the fact that most of the class is around my age – which is 61).
Willie’s workout has a lot of dancing (really fun and really aerobic) and a lot of kick boxing moves. I knew I was too old to be doing those high kicks and all those jerky thrusting and punching moves. And I didn’t even enjoy them. So why did I do them? I guess to keep up with the class and not look my age.
Ahh vanity … George Sand said, “Vanity is the quicksand of reason” and I sunk deeply in. Now I’m left with two strained hamstrings. I’m practicing PRICE: Protect; Rest; Ice; Compression; Elevation. [Did you know they added “P” to that old saw? It was news to me.] Do you have any idea what it feels like to sit on two icepacks?
While it’s essential to exercise as we age to maintain strength, aerobic capacity and flexibility, it’s just as important to know our personal limits. Take it from one who is learning the hard way. Read my article on Age-Appropriate Exercise and do as I say – not as I do!
Tags: overuse injury, hamstring pull, age-appropriate exercise
Are you missing out on the greatest free deal of the century? You are if you’re not exercising moderately for thirty minutes five or more days a week. Everyone knows that exercise burns calories and helps you maintain a healthy weight.
You probably also know the “Use it or lose it” motto as applied to exercise. If you don’t keep all the parts moving, they gradually lose their ability to do so. And it’s never too late to start. Read about this fascinating research study that got some wheelchair bound 80- and 90-year olds walking again.
Maybe you even know that exercise causes the release of brain chemicals called endorphins,
such as dopamine and serotonin. But did you know that a recent review of back pain studies concluded that being active reduces back pain. The same was found in a review of migraine research studies. Migraine sufferers who were more active reported significantly fewer and less painful migraine attacks than more sedentary migraine sufferers.
Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers, sleep aids and anti-depressants. So get moving and get your endorphins. They’re free!
Tags: nature’s painkillers, endorphins, exercise for pain relief
I came across this video sample of a 10-minute workout this morning and tried it myself. It was fun and fast. Well maybe it was fun because it was fast. The sample is a ten-minute Pilates clip with some excellent moves which I had not seen before. I really felt stretched out and relaxed after just ten minutes. Try it for yourself by clicking on the video clip here.Anchor Bay Fitness has produced a substantial series of 10 Minute Solution workout DVDs. Each DVD has five 10-minute routines. You can do them individually or sequentially when you have the time and energy.The 10 Minute Solution series includes many types of exercise for all levels of ability. You can choose from popular dance, ballet, yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, exercise ball workouts and much more. Just browsing got my blood pumping.Some studies show that regular short workouts can be just as effective as less frequent but longer sessions. But even if that is not so, any exercise is better than none. If you’re having a hard time getting into a workout routine (or getting back into one after the Holidays – like me), this may be just what you need!Tags: easy exercise, Pilates, exercise DVDs
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