My Fitness Evolution
February 6, 2012 by 5 Comments
We CAN Get Stronger as We Age!
December 15, 2011 by 1 Comment
Increasing physical frailty as we age is not inevitable! It used to be assumed as fact that after age 40, people lose approximately eight percent or more of their muscle mass each decade. While this will happen if we are not exercising and working on developing strength through resistance training, newer research suggests that we can get stronger and leaner no matter what age we begin this type of exercise! Muscle is extremely important, especially for seniors, and not only because it keeps us strong. Muscle burns calories and helps us maintain our weight, and it contributes to balance and bone strength. Simply said, without our muscle strength, we can lose our independence as we age.
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Sorry To Say, Spot Reduction Doesn’t Work!
May 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment
It would be nice if spot reduction worked, but it doesn’t. While most of us know this, sometimes we can’t resist the temptation to believe it does. Stronger abs is your goal? Abdominal work is the way to go. A smaller waist? Work on the diet and overall fitness. Is it your bottom half you’re frustrated with? Doing 50 lunges everyday won’t “spot reduce” your thighs. A combination of regular cardio, strength training and nutritional changes is the only tried and true answer. Not spot reduction.
An article I recently read pointed out that if spot reduction worked, professional tennis players would have one arm that was smaller than the other. It would make sense that the circumference of the dominant arm would be less if this logic were correct. We know the facts do not support this (the dominant arm may be a little stronger, though). Why then do we often fall for the myth that says that if we do more elliptical, we will have a smaller bottom half? [Read more…]
