We’re a big believer in online exercise classes. Ours are about a half-hour long featuring a professional trainer with uplifting music and sometimes conducted in an exotic location. This morning’s session started with a lot of bending, stretching, twisting, and aerobic exertion. We were really breathing hard and sweating. But by the time we got our shoes tied, the class was over.
Rowing machines have a lot of advantages as an exercise device. Invented in 1870, the machines can really contribute to all-around health. Here’s a quick summary of a Women’s Health article.
Some machines have TV monitors that put you on the water with trainers in exotic locations making for a nice distraction from your calorie burn. Jump on the machine and travel around the world!
We knew caffeine helped provide a pre-workout boost of energy to power through that exercise session. A cup of coffee, or a bit of pre-workout powder (mostly caffeine), can provide a psychological and physical boost. What we didn’t know is that coffee/caffeine may improve recovery after a workout!
This is from Shape magazine.
“Aside from helping you power through your sweat sesh, drinking coffee before your workout could help speed up your recovery afterward, says Abby Chan, M.S., R.D.N., a registered dietitian nutritionist and the co-owner of EVOLVE Flagstaff in Arizona. After about 15 minutes of exercise, the level of glucose in your blood begins to drop, and your body will typically resort to glycogen (the stored form of glucose in your liver and muscles) for energy, she explains. That said, “there’s some thought that caffeine can mobilize free fatty acids, which your body can then utilize for energy, to spare glycogen,” says Chan. “If you can decrease how much glycogen you’re utilizing during sport, then by possibly utilizing more fatty acids, then theoretically you can recover faster and better because you’re not getting so deep into your energy storage tanks.””
It seems coffee is nearly a miracle drug. We suggest making it illegal.
Not that fun, really. The Daily Mail reported on a British study of how various alcohol beverages affect body fat. Here’s a rough summary:
The British National Health Service reminds us that alcohol, in general, is bad for a host of reasons and the bad probably outweighs the benefits. Less is better. Spreading out consumption is better than binge drinking. Don’t drink and drive……
Well. That was mostly depressing, wasn’t it?! But let’s look for the good. We’ll have a glass of red with a white wine chaser, please.
Of coffee. We’ve heard that coffee is probably good for us, in addition to putting that lift in our step. What’s not surprising is that all the fun stuff we like to add to coffee, be it cream or sugar or flavorings or artificial sweeteners, are not so good. Besides potentially adding pounds, one French study found that even artificial sweeteners led to a higher incidence of cancer. That’s just one study but common sense tells us that the morning boost without any additives is our best bet. Give it to us straight. We can take it!
That is the question. Not really. The question is should we get up extra early to get in our exercise before a busy day.
Stephanie Mansour |in TODAY magazine talks about the importance of sleep AND exercise and finding the balance. Here are excerpts:
“A morning fitness routine can be an amazing habit. It gets your workout done first thing, which decreases the chances that you’ll get too busy and skip it later on. Plus, it can boost your energy and put you in a better mood for the day ahead.”
However, getting up early to exercise probably isn’t the answer.
“Getting adequate sleep plays a huge role in our overall health. Not getting enough can cause weight gain or make it hard to lose weight if that’s your goal. Sleep deprivation also affects our eating habits and makes it more likely we will reach for sugary foods to propel us through the day. Plus, your workouts just won’t be as effective when you’re dragging. All this is to say that cutting out the sleep we need in order to exercise may do more harm than good when it comes to your health goals.”
“So if you’re not currently getting 7-8 hours of sleep at night, make that the priority first.”
Quoting an article from Parade magazine, “Exercise, sleep and, increasingly, having strong social ties are now seen as ways people can protect brain health.” Good news except do they have to be in that order??
We’ve said it before but it bears repeating. Walking works. Axios reports:
“Mortality risk was reduced by 50% for older adults who increased their daily steps from around 3,000 to around 7,000, according to new medical research. 7,000 is the new 10,000, in terms of steps you should shoot for. It’s wildly effective. Walking strengthens your heart, improves bone density, relaxes your mind, and helps with muscle-building and pain management.”
That seems like a good start. But what has it done for us lately?
We’ve talked about the benefits of walking so let’s take some of the fun out of it by adding ankle weights. Adding a little weight can help further tone those calves, quads, hamstrings and…… glutes! The weights can also be used during exercising. Healthline.com has a solid article explaining the pros, the how-to’s, and risks (choking hazard is not one of them.)
No major endorphin Buzz here but we always feel better after putting in those steps! Forward, march!
Gyms are opening. Spring is here. Time to tone up those arms and especially those biceps.
Well + Good says there are alternative exercises to bicep curls that aren’t as isolating and may reduce the risk of injury. Those exercises include chin-ups, single-arm dumbbell rows, reverse-grip bent-over row, reverse-grip cable pull down, and seated cable rows. You’ll need a decently equipped gym but these alternatives should show good results. Read the article here.
Coffee and breakfast are a good way to start the day. So combine the two with a coffee smoothie. Here’s some ingredients to consider:
Fire up the blender and away we go!
As Margaret Talbot writes in The New Yorker, what we think about exercise today as being a good thing wasn’t always so. Here is an excerpt.
“For much of the twentieth century, as the journalist Danielle Friedman writes in her canny and informative new book, “Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise an Reshaped the World” exercise has not always been recognized as an unassailable good.
Friedman describes a 1956 radio interview in which Mike Wallace, later of “60 Minutes” fame, expresses incredulity at the vision set forth by the pioneering fitness advocate Bonnie Prudden. “You think there should be a formal exercise, a kind of ‘joy through strength’ period for husband, wife, and family when the father gets home from work at six-thirty at night, before the Martinis?” he marvels. “You think we should have a routine, all of us?””
LIvestrong.com posted a handy article “The 9 Best Resistance Band Exercises for Your 50s, 60s, 70s and Beyond.” More and more evidence points to the importance of strength training, especially as we age. And resistance bands are an inexpensive and lower-risk means of toning those muscles. Check it out.
Whether you’re getting your walking steps in or still jogging/slogging, it’s important to have the right shoe for your specific feet. There’s lots of good information on the Interweb. Our takeaway…. It makes sense to spend a bit (or quite a bit) more for shoes fitted at a running store. That can make your treks more comfortable and reduce your risk of injury.
Here’s some articles to help sort through the many aspects of what will help determine the right shoe for you.
– Jet Cannon
