Ready to Rumble

This week, John and Tammy are ready to rumble. To this point, they’ve been persistent and shown patience, but now it’s time for progression. They’re charged with stretching what they’re capable of doing and experimenting with pushing those boundaries. They’ve built a good foundation, but now it’s time to build the house upon that foundation.

John’s approach will be to rebuild his athleticism. He will want to mix focus and play with added intensity. Both John and Tammy will reconnect with that competitive spirit, only this time they are competing against the John and Tammy of yesterday.

Last week was a busy week for Tammy and she did not have as much opportunity to practice focus and play. However in the afternoons, she had some down time and was able to do some squats and other physical activity. She even encouraged some of her coworkers to participate. Tammy used to be a dancer, so one approach that might work for her is to adopt some sort of dance in her workout routine—perhaps Zumba or watching dance routines from YouTube videos.

The changes that John and Tammy have been making are clear, as people are starting to notice a change in their physical appearance. This has helped to encourage Tammy’s sister to begin her own fitness program soon. Though John’s physical results appear to be more obvious than Tammy’s, she is not letting herself get discouraged. After all, they are both making progress and each person’s success is a success for them both as a couple.

John and Tammy are ready to rumble, as they are now focused on their progression. This week, they will find ways to add intensity to their workouts, while finding their inner beast.

Discussions about sleep

You are in the gym, now what?

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Going from project to lifestyle

Today, we are going to talk about lifestyle.

Often when people approach a new diet or exercise regimen, they have a goal in mind, for example losing 10-20 pounds. It’s important to have a target. But after you achieve that target or you fail to reach it, there seems to be a period of time when many people slip and let it all go.

I find this most often happens when the project (the diet) wasn't something they ever intended to sustain. And when they go back to doing what they did before the project, they end up where they were before, if not worse. That’s why you need to think about the changes that you put in place as being something that you can generally sustain for the long term.

Try making sustainable changes to your lifestyle so that you can maintain your healthy life even after achieving your initial goals. Long-term success requires supports from your family and friends. This may take some time. You're different. You're eating different foods, doing different things. Eventually, they come to understand. As you build this new healthy lifestyle, be sure to explain your why to you family and friends. This will help them get more comfortable with the changes in you.

I recommend limiting yourself to one sustainable healthy behavior at a time and work to make that stick.

Mindset also plays an important role in building a good lifestyle. Work on changing your language, find balance in your life, and build stronger relationships with the people around you. All of these will make you happier and that will make you healthier.

This is your life and you can do this.

Healthy habits | Dr. Cris Beer

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Nelson finds crossfit

Nelson is a sports fanatic at heart. In high school, he played multiple sports and even went on to wrestle in college and internationally. After he got married, he moved to Minnesota to raise his family. In his 40s, he put on some weight, but was soon able to find the perfect fit for his fitness journey when he stumbled upon Crossfit.

After putting on some weight, he began looking for a way to get fit. He signed up to run half-marathons and was eventually running eight per summer. However, he started having pain in his hip that wouldn’t go away. At 52 years old, Nelson was told that he had arthritis in his hip and that the damage was so bad, he would need a hip replacement. He realized he would no longer be able to run half-marathons with the state of his hip and needed to find some other way to continue his fitness journey.

After stumbling upon his local Crossfit establishment, he decided to give it a try. He did his Crossfit baseline and was hooked. Nelson has been doing Crossfit now for a year and a half. Not only can he do deep squats, but his hip is feeling much better.

At first, however, he wasn’t able to do the prescribed weight on all of the Crossfit workouts. He was able to work through scaling, where he did the same workouts as the rest of the Crossfit participants, but with less weight or no weight until he was able to learn the correct form. He was able to reclaim his own inner athlete and continue his fitness growth and progression.

In addition to improving his health, Nelson has found a whole new group of friends in his Crossfit community. He considers this supportive community of participants and trainers as being like his second family. In the end, Nelson found Crossfit to be the perfect solution that matched his fitness desires and goals.

Why didn't I lose weight with crossfit?

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Can I get a good workout with a Wii?

If you own a Nintendo Wii, you know it can be a very fun and enjoyable activity for the whole family. Did you know it also has a lot of great health benefits?

In fact, there have been several studies done on the health benefits of the Nintendo Wii. One such study was published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in February 2014. This study selected 22 people, with half classified as doing high intensity trained exercises and the other half classified as doing low intensity exercises. They all played four different games on the Wii, including boxing, tennis, cycling, and step. They also worked out on a traditional treadmill and stationary bike. The results on all of these modalities were then measured.

While the Wii was not as effective in building cardiovascular health as the bike and treadmill, the results were still pretty good, especially for the low intensity group. All participants reported the Wii workouts as being much more enjoyable than the bike or treadmill. Of the four Wii games used, boxing had the best results, yet tennis yielded the least results.

So are you wondering if you should get a Wii?

The first question to ask yourself is what are your goals? If improving cardiovascular health is important to you, what is something you will keep doing for the long-term? What do you find enjoyable? What will keep you engaged? If you’ve played sports in the past or enjoy playing sports, the Wii may be a good choice. Especially during the winter months, adding the Wii into the mix with your other cardio activities will keep things fresh and offer another opportunity for the whole family to get involved.

As kids, playing was the norm. As people get older, they tend to lose this sense of play. However, play needs to be part of your program. Make your fitness program dynamic and fun, perhaps through using the Nintendo Wii. To purchase a Nintendo Wii through our affiliate link, click here.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26504308
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26513387
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26469308
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26556091
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26556092

Nintendo Wii Console Black with Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort

Nintendo Wii U Console 8GB Basic Set – White

Wii Fit U w/Wii Balance Board accessory and Fit Meter – Wii U
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The value of play part 2

Play Golf Forever | Suzanne Clark

Body by science | Dr. Doug McGuff

This is the second part of a two-part interview with Dr Doug McGuff . In this episode, we discuss the principles behind the book “Body by Science”. Dr McGuff co-authored the book with John Little.

At the age of 15, Dr Doug McGuff became interested in exercise, diet and human performance. He took up weight training to improve his performance in the sport of bicycle motocross. He traded janitorial services for membership in a local gym.

In 1989, he graduated from the University Of Texas Medical School At San Antonio. He served as the chief resident at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences at Little Rock. From there, he served as faculty at Wright State University Emergency Medicine Residency. In 1997, he realized his lifelong dream when he opened up Ultimate Exercise.

Dr. McGuff's program has always been high-intensity. Over the years, he continued to tweak his program to continue progressing. He turned his attention to finding the lowest volume necessary to still see results.  He found that intensity was the key, not volume.  Those principles are reflected in the Body by Science book. It is a combination of his own experience and scientific studies. 

In the book, McGuff showed how the intensity comes by slowing down the exercise. He says the purpose of slowing down the exercise is not just going slow. There is nothing magical about that. It’s the focus and intent that changes things. It’s important to set a benchmark workload and progress over time following that benchmark. There is no reason to rush and try to achieve anything quickly. Taking time and focusing on safety at the time of weight-lifting are important.

The book discusses many other aspects of human body and muscular development.

https://40plusfitnesspodcast.com/primal-prescription-doug-mcguff/

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Discussions about sleep

In this client episode, we discuss getting good sleep with John and Tammy.

John described his normal sleep pattern, noting he used to sleep six hours a night. Per Allan's recommendation, he added an hour to his nightly sleep over the past week.  With that extra hour, he does not need a nap when he gets home from work.  The sleep he is getting now has him feeling more rested. 

A nap can be a useful tool as well. John said he is not avoiding the nap, rather he does not feel the need for it.  So, he thinks his adding an extra hour of sleep is something he will continue doing. Because he sees real benefit.

If someone gets a good sleep pattern going and gets comfortable with it, his or her body performs better. This will help balance your  hormones, improving brain chemistry and memory. 

John says the setup in their room is completely perfect for sleep. They did not have to make any changes in the sleeping environment. That means they already had some good sleeping habits. 

Tammy tends to sleep more than John. But there are some nights when  wakes up sometimes after 2 – 3 hours.  She finds it very frustrating that when she cannot fall back asleep.  Using good sleep hygiene should keep these restless nights at a minimum.

Start a good sleep practice to ensure you get good nights sleep every night.

Progression for results

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Should I lift weights?

Today we're going to talk about resistance training.

A very common question about resistance training is “why would I want to do resistance training if I am trying to lose fat?”

Fat-loss is all about what and how much you eat. And if you are trying to use exercise as a way of burning more calories, you probably pushing yourself to a point that is unsustainable. And when you go back to your normal lifestyle, your metabolism will have slowed. Good weight loss is when the loss is done on a sustainable eating plan. The ideal way is to set small goals like losing one or two pounds per week. Resistance training allows you to retain lean body mass while you lose body fat. This will lead to a better body composition after you've lost the weight.

Lifting weights can help us in three different modalities; muscle strength, muscle mass, and muscle endurance. What many people don’t know is after you turn 35, you start to lose muscle every single year. So, if you look at the older people who did not do resistance training and as a result, they don’t have as much muscle mass. That can be a big problem.

You may not feel comfortable lifting weights. I say you don't have to lift weights; you can actually use your own body weight.
Body-weight exercises like squat and pull-ups are things that can help you get really stronger. Two major advantages of bodyweight exercises are that you can do it anywhere and with limited injury risk.

If you choose to do weights, my typical choice would be free weights. Free weights are better for functional strength. The advantage of machines is that they are easier to learn and use. Regardless of whether you go free weights or machines, always ensure you use good form to avoid injury.

It is difficult to fully cover this topic in 15 minutes. Still, I hope you understand the value of resistance training and don't neglect this very important fitness modality.

Weight machines versus free weights

Why you should squat

Music used for the podcast Intro and Outro: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music