Workout and Diet Advice for Women over 45

As a change of pace I thought I would share and comment on some interesting items I read this week.

First a really positive topic – the value of dried apples.  If you are like most people, dried fruit in general is not part of your daily intake of fruit  –  we have been warned over the years about the high sugar content of dried fruit and of course fresh is always better.  Then there comes an interesting study on dried apples…….. who thinks of these things and more important did studies of dried peaches and apricots not “bear fruit” (so to speak)?   One has to wonder about all the studies on the other dried fruits that didn’t give these unexpected and positive results.

 Now that I have heard from my readers that the regular “plank” was either fairly easy or a good challenge ‘that made my legs shake’, it is time for the next level.

This time, after stabilizing your position you will lift up one leg while maintaining that stable posture.  Hold for a count of 10 or twenty and lower the leg.  Repeat this with the other leg.  The pictures below are really good to follow.

 First review the Basic Plank

Do your workout friends (over) share their views on the “right way” to live/eat/workout?   Are they critical of your and others’ choices of food/exercise/lack of exercise etc?   Does this describe you? And the question is are they, and you, driven by real concern for the person being proselytized to, or is it something else?  It is worth taking a closer look.

• “People often project onto others how they feel about themselves”, says clinical psychotherapist Leslie Seppinni, Psy.D.  “If they’ve struggled with something, they can be more likely to judge, be openly critical, or even become outraged, by the choices of others.”

In the first part of this three part article, I introduced the concept that too much of a good thing like exercise is not always a good thing.  In part 2, I outlined the signs of the addiction associated with the “runner’s high” – much like a high associated with a drug.  In case you are still asking “so what?”; still wondering what the problem is with being addicted to something as wholesome as exercise, then read on.  Working out hard will let you see results quickly, but continually overloading the body will eventually lead to negative consequences.  Whilst working out hard is good for bones, going at high levels of intensity all the time puts enormous stress on bones, joints and muscles.  

In Part 1, I outlined the leg workout that I do in 15-20 minutes.  I add in 15 minutes to warm up and stretch, so in 30 minutes I can get a good workout when I am pressed for time.

This is part 2 of the four-part series.  And some may find the split I use to be a little unusual.  I split the upper body into back, chest and arms and I split the shoulders over three days as well, so that I do some shoulders on each of the upper body days.  I almost hesitated to share this workout  – I have kept this little gem a secret for so long.  I also will admit that I did not develop this routine; I was lucky enough to have a trainer share it with me.  I look forward to your feedback on this routine.

Fifteen minute workouts!?
We are all pressed for time, and rather than skip a workout due to lack of time, it is great to have some exercises that we can simply do in less time and still feel that we got a good workout . I have taken the challenge to suggest such workouts, and will be blogging these suggestions for the time challenged over the next couple of weeks. The objective is to make the workouts shorter in duration and still be effective.

I have had personal trainers for short periods occasionally over the years, and I have been a personal trainer.  I have seen what works and what doesn’t work from both sides.  I am also a keen observer of current personal trainers when they are training others.

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!