Workout and Diet Advice for Women over 45

 Build muscular endurance with yoga moves like this one, called “plank pose into chaturanga dandasana.”  Practiced correctly on a regular basis, you will strengthen your chest, shoulders and arms as well as your core muscles.

Begin in a straight-arm plank position.  This is more difficult than the regular plan we’ve spoken about in other posts.  In this position your hands are directly under your shoulders, your arms are straight, (without “locking out” your elbows) and your fingers pointed forward.   As with the regular plank push back with your heels and draw the crown of your head forward to create a long line throughout your body.   Most important is not to let your hips sag.  It may help to think of your butt as being slight “up”, rather than feeling yourself tightening your hips and “thrusting forward” – which is definitely not the position.  Pull in your abdominal muscles to support your spine.

More on how to change your attitude! A University of Chicago Booth School of Business research study had one group of participants visualizing eating an unpleasant food and the other group visualizing avoiding the unpleasant food. You guessed it – the first group formed a more favorable opinion of the food, the second group, nothing. Seems we are hardwired to equate avoidance with discomfort so the more you skip those hard-to-love-squats, the more you come to dislike them. By physically doing what you may dislike, you begin to change your attitude, because the brain equates taking action with a positive outcome. So either think about how much you love squats; or don’t think about them just do them!!

In the LA Times Business section last weekend, Michael Hiltzik had a really interesting article, that anyone considering lap-band surgery should read.  A cautionary tale about selecting your surgeon/clinic carefully.  Read More

Last week, my guest spot topic on Carl Lenore’s Super Human Radio Show was about Women and Personal trainers.  (The link to the show is posted at the end of this blog post.)  The topic is so broad and deep, and on the show we covered a small part, so I have this pent up need to share more.   And specifically, cover some things that women have spoken to me about or asked me about.

Figured I would break it into three parts:

1. Choosing a Personal Trainer
2. Getting the Most out of your Personal Trainer

Just had the opportunity to be a guest on Internet Radio – “Superhuman Radio Show” with host Carl Lanore http://bit.ly/73Ew2s . The Topic was a Feminine Perspective of Bodybuilding, which turned out to be a broad subject and was an enjoyable hour’s discussion.

The title of this post comes from a sentence in an article on abs from a guy with really great abs.  Yeh, I know there are a lot of hot guys with great abs – see the plethora of calendars, online and offline, making the rounds now that 2010 is in sight.  You haven’t seen them? Maybe I can find some links to help you out.  In the interim – our focus is on our own sixpacks!  Or on our journey there.  The “hot guy” contends we all have Sixpacks!

I don’t know about you – but I have been working out with weights for a lo-o-o-o-ng time.   I really notice it when the workout routine comes around to the start of the cycle and I think “man I just did legs….  or so it seems”.   Does no-one else get that feeling?  Is it just mydays and weeks that fly by, along with the workout cycle?

I wish I had thought of this, the Pyramid, it makes so much sense.  Conditioning gurus view athletic training as a pyramid.  They use it for football players, surfers, runners, cyclists (I’ll bet Lance knows all about this) to make sure the athletes get to and stay at the top of their game.  The pyramid works like this:

·         at the bottom are the fundamental, functional movements,
·         above that is the power,
·         and above that, the skill.

I like the quote from jacket:

”The Slow philosophy is about giving each task the time and focus that it deserves so that you do it better and enjoy it more.”

It got me thinking about the power of slow in relation to training/working out.   And as in previous blog entries, I aim my comments (sage advice?) at  my primary audience – the female boomer weight trainer/bodybuilder.  We really need to train smarter and I believe we can see better results if we give each set, and each repetition “the time and focus it deserves”.  I offer this perspective:  get more from your workout (efficiency, effectiveness and enjoyment) through the power of slow.  I think your joints may thank you as well.

Today I am sore. I am excited. I used muscles I had been avoiding; and at least I am admitting that here.

When it comes to body-building, I love sharing, and I love learning – and this week it was learning.