Stretching Tip

Tension between the shoulders is common especially if you work at your computer a lot or drive long hours, and it is a hard area to stretch out so here’s a tip on how to get some flexibility in that area and ease the tension.

Wrap right elbow underneath the left, forearms and hands facing upward. Face your palms toward each other each other and twist your torso to the right. This will separate your shoulder blades and stretch the muscles between them. Hold for 30 seconds and release slowly. Repeat to the other side. This will help to increase the suppleness in your back.

Cheers, happy stretching,

Nancy

6.30am Before getting out of tone up your pelvic floor muscles with 5 minutes of Kegels

7.00am Roll out of bed and rev up your engine for the 3 sets of 15 free squats

7.15am Give your   vitamin D levels a good boost with a15 minute walk in the sun

7.30am Have a light nutritious breakfast of high quality easily digestible protein and complex carbs

8.30am Take the stairs at work

10.30am Have a nutritious mid morning snack such as a piece non starchy fruit and a small handful of raw nuts ( e.g Almonds), or seeds ( e.g sunflower, and/ or pumpkin) or protein bar and green tea

2.00pm climb the stairs again

3.00am snack of fruit and nuts

Between 4.00pm and 6.00pm Take another 30-45 minutes of exercise either cardio, weights, core, flexibility or a combination

Yours in health,

Nancy

Take heart you are not alone. Perhaps you are pulling in the belt a bit as we all are at the moment, or should be or have no gym is available near where you live, or you have an injury or disability that prevents you from going to a gym and you’re keen to start a n exercise program. You can still do so.

You can exercise under the guidance of qualified fitness professionals in the comfort of your own home, save on gym fees, be able to tailor make your programme to fit you own individual needs, change that programme as often as you like, become your own expert, get advice on line and share your experience and queries with an exercise community on the net if you choose.

So choose your own training hours fit around your own schedule and lifestyle, don’t worry about whether you’ve combed your hair or have to get into the latest training gear, create your own exercise programme customised to your own personal needs, without having to leave home to get the strength, cardio fitness, and flexibility you are after and the wellbeing that goes with it.

If you are interested in any of these benefits come visit our website at www.flexibilityplus.com and find out more.

Yours in health,
Nancy

Many people during their life have had an accident of some sort that has resulted in their injuring their lower back. Usually they recover after a few weeks and are able to continue to enjoy whatever physical activities they were previously involved with.

However, such injuries can also mean that you become more susceptible to further lower back injuries and if you are not careful you can end up with chronic back pain which can have a dramatic impact on your life.
Thankfully, more often than not, by performing the right stretches and strength training exercises you can gradually relieve the chronic pain and lead a pretty much pain-free life, able to enjoy most activities and live a normal life.

However, you have to find out for yourself what the right stretches and strength training exercises are that provide the pain relief you are looking for.

If you have suffered from lower back pain, or sciatica, you need to be cautious about what stretches and exercises you choose to perform.

Many stretches in our exercise system (check out www.flexibilityplus.com) involve the stretching and strengthening of the hamstrings and lower back. This is because in our daily lives we are constantly putting stress on the lower back, whether from sitting, bending over to pick up something off the floor, carrying a baby in our arms, gardening, vacuuming the floor, or driving our car. So, to keep the back limber we need to lengthen our hamstrings, and we need to have supple and strong back muscles to adequately support our vertebrae.

Now, some of the stretches and exercises you may find cause you pain either during or after you have performed them. That is a very big clue that you need to listen to – if you find you are in pain during or after a particular exercise, then stop and don’t do it again!!!

On the other hand, if you find a certain stretch or a particular exercise provides relief from pain and actually results in your feeling more agile with the ability to move more freely, then keep doing it!!!

Look after your back and enjoy a long lifetime of quality living!

Jonathan

Even if you don’t have the hour; the 45 minutes or even the 30 minutes, there’s no excuse to totally for go your exercise completely. Even as little as 15 or even10 minutes of brisk walking, stretching or weight training will make a difference. Remember the effects of exercise are cumulative so every little bit counts. And you know what’s interesting once you get up and on the move you rarely just do the 10 minutes that was all you thought you had time for. Because once you are up and out of that chair with each minute of exercise you gain more momentum and the joy of working towards achievement of your fitness goals, or even more basic than that the wellbeing you feel from just the deep breathing involved, the sun or wind on your face if you’re training outside, etc. means you’re in the groove and just feel like keep going.

If all you really have is ten minutes between appointments and you haven’t time to get outside or the weather isn’t being cooperative ten minutes to limber up with some simple stretching exercises will do you a world of good. For ideas see our products on our website www.flexibilityplus.com.

Cheers,
Nancy

•    Next keep fit and supple. Keeping your spine and limbs flexible will go along way to keeping your skeleton strong. Don’t underestimate the power of resistance. When you take weight bearing exercise such as walking and even more if you train with weights you strengthen and grow your muscles and in turn the stress you put on these helps fix calcium in the matrix of the bones. Yup it definitely contributes more than just a good look.
•    See a chiropractor or osteopath once a year
•    Watch the amount of protein you take in. Protein is highly acidic and your system responds by leaching calcium out of your bones to neutralise the acid, so overdoing the beef burgers is definitely bad news for your skeleton
•    Mineralise your system with plenty of nuts, seeds and root vegetables
•    If you have arthritis definitely check your self out for food allergies and take 1000mg EPA/DHA fish liver oil  or 300g GLA from flax seed oil
•    If you are female and postmenopausal and have osteoporosis, consider natural progesterone  as a cream, not as HRT). Natural progesterone is bioidentical to what your own body produces and is manufactured from plant sterols

In sum chow down on the soybeans and lube up those joints with some first class oils, expose some skin, and strut your stuff in the sunshine!

Happy groovin y’all

Nancy

Yesterday I talked about being flexible in your training, allowing yourself to change your exercise program to suit your changing circumstances.
In my twenties and thirties I was focused on increasing my strength through lifting heavier weights on a progressive basis. Right now, my focus is far more on cardio fitness, flexibility and core strength, incorporating exercises to specifically improve my surfing performance.
This doesn’t mean that a person can’t keep the same focus with their training, as each of us needs to train in a manner that they enjoy, whether that means sticking to the same program year after year, or regularly changing their routine.
Whatever exercise system works for you, the main ingredient is to keep doing it!
Having said that, don’t fall into the trap of giving yourself too much to achieve. You need to create routines that are simple and easy to achieve. As you get fitter, stronger, more agile and flexible, then you can look at adding more to your program.
You are far better off to start a jogging program that has you running for 30 seconds for 5 days a week, then adding another 30 seconds so you jog for 1 minute for the next 5 days, then 1 minute and 30 seconds for the next 5 days, and so on; allowing you to comfortably build up to running for 20 minutes within about 9 months.
This beats going hard out for 10 minutes in your first run, feeling really exhausted, having very sore muscles for three or four days, and then giving up.
Set goals that build a strong foundation, that allow you to sustain exercise for year after year, because you are seeing great results and you are thoroughly enjoying yourself.
All the best
Jonathan
www.flexibilityplus.com

• Take your physical limitations into account: If you cannot perform an exercise, don’t consider it. For example if a friend convinces you to enrol in a group fitness class that requires dance coordination and you are completely “uncoordinated” you’ll probably feel incompetent, even humiliated, drop out in short order, hang up your aerobics shoes and may decide this exercise thing just isn’t for you
• Choose your exercise form according to your personality: If you’re a group person you may enjoy a group fitness class, walking or jogging club or training with a partner. If you’re a group person and enjoy competition you may enjoy playing a team sport. If you enjoy the great outdoors a tramping or kayaking club may be just the ticket. If you like something meditative, stretching, yoga, tai chi, or Pilates may appeal. . If you enjoy training on your own, weight training, swimming, walking, or jogging may appeal. For many a combination is ideal
• Commitment to exercise requires scheduling it: Other wise you may fall prey to excusitis “I don’t have time for exercise,” etc. When this happens ask yourself, do I have time for cancer or heart disease and block time out for it in to your diary right along with all your other appointments.
• Programme your environment: Put exercise clothes and shoes right by your bed, or your gym bag stocked with water bottle, towel, toiletries and a change of clothes right by the door. Include the gym on your route to or from work, or have, the stationary bike set up by your desk at work or in front of the TV in the family room at home. These strategies will help you structure exercise into your life so it becomes a habit just like all your other personal rituals such as brushing your teeth, combing your hair, etc.

• Reward yourself : No not with an extra piece of chocolate cake when you’re done working out, more like calling that friend you’ve been meaning to catch up with, watching that favourite TV show, buying that longed for CD, shoes, cute workout outfit, etc.

• Ramp it up: If you just go through the motions when you exercise, nothing significant will happen. In order to get the results you want, get it done with purpose and intensity and the positive results will reinforce your efforts. Intensity doesn’t mean you have to exercise to the point where you are constantly gasping for air or turning blue in the face with effort. It does means you are concentrating on the exercise you are doing not shooting the breeze by the water fountain between reps while weight training, reading the Sunday paper while on the stationary bike, or holding a stretching exercise without really feeling it.

• Lastly keep an exercise diary: This will keep you purposefully focussed, so you can easily track your progress and tweak things so you consistently see results. It also allows you to pause for applause and celebrate your victories. Go to our web site www.flexibilityplus.com and you will find in the products we offer comprehensive solutions that cover all I have talked about here.

Until next time,

Go for it!

Best, Nancy

Let us assume you understand the benefits of exercise and have decided you really want to make a commitment to your health and fitness. How do I get started, I hear you wondering? And once started how do I stay on track, especially when it’s pouring with rain outside?

Here are some principles and ideas that will help

PART I

•    Set goals for your exercise programme: Start with simple, realistic achievable goals, then move on to new more challenging ones, one step at a time. Break up your goals into mini goals. Your first goal may be to do a certain volume of abdominal crunches, for example 50 crunches per day. You look at your goal and it seems daunting.  Right now you do ten crunches and your abdominals start screaming at you. Well, since muscles do recover relatively quickly, to get around the feeling you couldn’t do another crunch, break your goal down into segments over the course of the day; 10 repetitions morning, noon, afternoon, evening, and bedtime. In each succeeding day aim to increase the amount you do each session without changing the overall volume. Your muscles will respond in short order to the regular challenge. If it is walking, cycling or running you have goals for, first achieve your initial goal at a comfortable pace and then, increase your pace before increasing the volume of work. Here too you could at first achieve your total volume over two or more sessions in a day if one session is too demanding.
Whatever the goal do something on it every day. Visualise your goal constantly, commit to it and
•    Notice what ‘s working and what isn’t : Flexibly adapt so that you are doing what works consistently
•    Find a mentor: One who has successfully achieved what you want to and follow their guidance
•    Enjoy the process: To do that you will need to pick an activity or activities you like doing and believe you have the capability to do competently and master over time. If you’re an out door type and the thought of being in a gym turns you off, then exercise in the fresh air. Picking activities that you enjoy doing is critical to becoming and remaining a life long exerciser. This will require a little experimenting, so if you’re a novice try out several possibilities.
•    See exercise as a menu of many exciting and varied options. Keep looking until you find something you believe you could do for the rest of you life.  The more you like your chosen activity the more likely you are to stick with it.
•    Mental attitude has a huge impact on motivation: It turns out that motivation is high when there is a likely chance of success combined with a stimulating reward.

In part II we’ll cover other important strategies that will help you become a lifelong exerciser

Cheers until next time,
Nancy

Last time I talked about a very brief encounter with a gentleman passing us on a footpath outside a friend’s house.

I want to continue the theme of keeping yourself flexible as you age. Because, when we went into our friends’ home we were introduced to an older couple, who were extremely pleasant and we struck up an amicable conversation.
It turned out that the gentleman that we met had been a top sportsman in his day, and was considered to be one of the best Australian sportsmen alive today.
When he described the various sports he had played you could see he was proud of his achievements, and rightly so - very few ever succeed in sports at the level he had, in not one but in at least two different sports codes.
Amongst the sports he enjoyed was golf, but he explained he couldn’t play any longer, nor, in fact, could he play any sports now because his knees were arthritic and he didn’t have enough strength in his legs to stand for very long.
You could see the disappointment in his face when he told us that he was no longer able to enjoy any sporting activities.
When he was talking about golf, I thought about whether in his day any one ever performed flexibility exercises for golf, whether they considered it important to have a certain degree of flexibility for golf. From my understanding, flexibility has only in recent years been given a much higher profile in relation to improving sports performance and extending a person’s active participation in a sports code.

Stretching, whether it is golf stretching, or some other type of sports related stretching, is no longer only for dancers, martial artists, yoga participants, and gymnasts. More sports medicine professional see its value in enhancing sports performance and reducing the likelihood of injury.
But, from my perspective, I also see the value in how stretching enhances your life. As I keep saying, it adds quality years to your life.
Now, I cannot say for sure that if this particular gentleman had undertaken stretching routines back in his day and had continued those stretching routines, he would be now able to enjoy some of his sports. But I do know how much stretching routines have and are assisting me in my own life and how having a regular program of stretches to increase your flexibility has and does make an enormous difference to those who follow such routines.
Think about this - if you love golf, then make sure you do flexibility exercises for golf, and if, one day you decide, for whatever reason to stop playing golf, you may then decide to stop golf stretching, but - don’t stop stretching for life!
All the best
Jonathan