If Not Now, When?

THIS ISSUE: Exercise Tips for the New Decade

Table of Contents:

1) Editor's Note
2) Food for Thought
3) Feature Article: Exercise Tips for the New Decade
4) Teleclasses
5) Question & Answer
6) Our Services

Editor's Note

Hi,

Here we are, into the second month of the new decade. I hope that your year is starting out well and just keeps getting better.

January was a slow month for me. I spent a lot of time trying to plan where I want to take my web site, and how I can get there. Keep checking back at the site periodically because I will be adding new things to it pretty much every month. My hope is that you will find my web site, and this newsletter to be useful tools as you proceed with your exercise and fitness plans and goals. To help you along, this month's article will give you a few general tips about exercising.

Here in the desert southwest we had some very interesting weather in January. In a 5 day period we received rainfall amounting to over 7 inches. In comparison, last year our rainfall total was around 3 inches, and an average year is about 8 inches. To say that parts of the state almost floated away would be an understatement. Can you say “global warming”. Other than that, our weather has been pretty nice, which is why we moved here.

On the family news front, our only granddaughter turned 13 this past weekend. She is a beauty, and acts like she's 13 going on 20. I told her mother (our daughter) over the holidays that I think that there are going to be a few challenging years coming up.

About ten days ago we rescued a new, seven month old kitten from our local shelter. We named her Abby. She is really beautiful, with large gray splotches (is that a word?) on a soft white coat. So far, she is residing in our bedroom, because she hasn't been willing to socialize with our two males on a non violent basis. When we bring her out in a cage, if they get too close, she hisses and bats at them. Oh well, patience should win her over.

On a final personal note, I want to wish one of my oldest and dearest friends a happy birthday today. We met on the first day of high school back in 1960, so I've known him almost 50 years. He reads this news letter (and periodically makes editorial comments on it), so I know he'll see the message. So, Angelo, Happy Birthday! And always remember that even though it's only 11 days, you will always be older than me.

And don't forget, if you feel you need more help, Nutrisystem can be very helpful in getting you to your goals.

Here's to a happy and healthy new year.

Good luck, keep exercising, and remember – "If not now, when?".

Best Wishes,

Tom Manfredi


Send any comments you may have to tom@fitness-after-50.com

My site fitness-after-50.com

Food for Thought

Feature Article - Exercise Tips for the New Decade

It's a new decade. You're dieting to try to lose weight, but it doesn't seem to be working as well as you had hoped it would. That may be because you're missing a very important component of weight loss/control and fitness – exercise. Even if you have reduce your calorie intake adequately to help you lose weight, if you aren't exercising, you will probably end up with body fat that you don't want. Why? Because your body needs exercise to help burn away the fat and help toning.

So, let's look at some things you want to keep in mind when you start exercising. First of all, we're going to break exercise down into it's two major components – aerobic exercise and strength training. Both of these are needed to have a balanced program that will give you and your body maximum benefits. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) says that excellent results can be achieved by seniors with 2 sessions per week of strength training and at least 3 days a week of aerobic exercise.

Aerobic exercise is exercise that helps your body to increase its' efficiency in getting oxygen to the various muscles. This is important because all of your muscles need oxygen to create the energy they use to function. And the more efficiently your body gets oxygen to the muscles, the more efficiently the whole body will work. Aerobic exercises include things like: walking, jogging, running, swimming, dancing, biking, hiking, cross country skiing, roller blading, ice skating, etc.

For aerobic exercise you should aim to work at a heart rate of about 60 -70% of your target heart rate (220 minus your age). A good target for aerobic exercise is 30 minutes per day. But, sessions of as little as 10 minutes each (if you do 3 per day) have been found to create good results, according to the ACSM.

Strength training is exercise that requires you to lift enough weight to challenge your muscles, but not so much that it makes you really uncomfortable. The “no pain, no gain” mentality is definitely not necessary for good results.

For strength training, the length of time spent training isn't too important. It's more important that you make sure you do a variety of exercises that target all of your major muscle groups. This can be accomplished by most people in no more than 20 minutes per session.

Other things that you need to consider in planning your exercise program are: warm-up, cool-down, and stretching.

As we get older, most of us lose some of the flexibility in our joints. Regaining as much of this flexibility as we can is extremely beneficial. I recommend to my clients that they try to do some stretching exercises every day. Even a few minutes a day can make a big difference.

Everyone should include at least a few minutes of warm-ups before they start their regular exercises. Your goal with a warm-up is to simply loosen up the muscles you're about to use and get some extra blood flowing to them. For strength training a warm-up might include a set of your exercises with little or no weight. For aerobic exercise, doing the exercise at a slower rate at the beginning works well. A warm-up before stretching is also a good idea. A few calisthenics that gently move the joints you're going to stretch is all that's needed.

Cool-down is overlooked by many people. The principle is pretty much the opposite of a warm-up. When you are through exercising and increasing your heart rate and the blood flow to your muscles, you need to slow everything down again. Make sure you do some movements to slowly bring your body back down to a more normal level before you stop completely.

Using these tips will help you to develop an exercise program that is both beneficial and easy for you to follow. It will help make your weight loss efforts really pay off. The results that you will start to feel in just a short while will make the effort well worth it. Keep in mind that an exercise program to improve your health is something you must plan on doing the rest of your life. And you are worth it.

(c)2005 - 2010 Thomas D. Manfredi, MS

Teleclasses

I will be announcing upcoming teleclasses in this section in the future.

If you have a topic that you would be interested in hearing about in a teleclass, send an e-mail to teleclasses@fitness-after-50.com

Questions and Answers

Answer - According to research presented at the ACSM's 2009 annual meeting there are no advantages to using protein supplements for exercise recovery rather than eating high protein foods.

To get more information on various fitness and health issues, please go to my site – www.fitness-after-50.com


-------------------
If you have a fitness or nutrition question you would like me to consider answering here in the newsletter, just send your question, along with your first name and city, in an e-mail to quesandansw@fitness-after-50.com

Obviously, I can't answer every question submitted. I will choose one question each month to answer here.

About Our Services

On line fitness coach Tom Manfredi is the creator of the site "fitness-after-50". This site is designed with the mature adult in mind. There is a lot of information available on the site for anyone looking to start or restart a sensible exercise program. Learn more by going to www.fitness-after-50.com



Tom Manfredi, 1218 Easy St., Ste 101, Wickenburg, AZ 85390

Other Services and Information

Identity Theft

I don’t know about you, but with all the news coverage lately about identity theft and all the problems it can cause for people, my wife and I have become somewhat paranoid about shredding any mail we get with any kind of identifying info in it, and she freaks out any time I order something on the internet and give out info there.

Well, a woman I know here in Arizona recently sent me some info about a company that offers $1,ooo,ooo coverage to help take care of the problem if someone steals your identity. The company is called LifeLock. You can get to their site by clicking on the banner below if it's visable, or by copying the following code into your browser –

They charge a very reasonable monthly fee and offer a number of included services (they also give discounts for paying annually). Go take a look and see what you think. I signed up. I think my peace of mind is worth that kind of money.

---------------------------------------------------

If you want (or need) an eating plan that can help you be successful in learning to eat properly and attain your weight loss goal, I suggest you take a look at Nutrisystem.

Nutrisystem's mission is to provide a weight loss program based on quality foods and a nutritionally balanced meal plan. There's no counting calories, carbs or points. You will learn portion control, and eat often throughout the day to help prevent cravings.