FamilyInShape

Lessons from a Senior Fitness class

I teach a class at my gym called Senior Strength and Flexibility. Just about everyone in the class is a senior, you know, over fifty. In fact, I think over sixty and over seventy would still be accurate for some; but you get the idea.  The class consists of some aerobic workout, muscle conditioning and stretching.  Not necessarily in that order and not limited to this list.  I teach this class every week and, without fail, they show up unless of course there's medical reason or something really important getting in the way.  

Every week I try to introduce a new exercise or something different to the class for two reasons - first, I like to challenge the mind and body of everyone in the class, and second, I get bored doing the same old thing week after week. Recently, I missed a couple of classes due to my kids being sick and in the mean time I sort of stopped planning for the class.  I think I was waiting to be enlightened, I tried sitting under a tree but that didn't work for me.  I had no idea what I was going to do on this particular Thursday, that is, until I played a 70's Disco CD I borrowed from a friend.  There I was, dancing in the car on the way to class.  I felt the energy, the fun music and immediately started to come up with fun ideas for the class.   At first, I was a little hesitant because I'm always being told that "the older groups don't do well with change."  Oh well, I decided I'd give it a try anyway.

We set up the class, everyone had two sets of dumbbells, a Swiss ball kept in place by a riser, and a floor mat.  We set up in two rows, facing each other. The plan was that two of us would do some type of disco dance down the middle while the rest worked on muscle conditioning then we would switch.  To help them along I volunteered to dance with each and every one of them, needless to say there was some woohooing going on at the idea of them dancing.  Imagine that, exercising and having fun- what a concept. 

As soon as the music started their faces lit up. You could almost read their minds--I heard a few laughing and saying "oh my goodness, 70's music, how fun!" or "I can't remember how to dance to that," and "I loved the 70's." It was too cute.  They were all smiling.

They all started moving along, dancing with each other, with me, by themselves.  Needless to say, that was our warm up.  This is about the time when I started to relax and just go with the flow. Next, I gave them instructions on their first strength workout which was Military Press (3 sets/8 reps).  Meanwhile, I danced up and down the middle with the first lady, Ann. Then they did squats while I danced with Beth. We moved back to bicep, triceps, lunges, etc., until all seven ladies had a chance to dance and all of them did their strength workout. Every time I was done with one of them they all laughed and clapped and often times they cheered for the others.  

I was really amazed at the moves they were teaching me instead.  They had such a great time, I think they laughed the entire time.  Even the people in the hallway stopped to check us out.  It felt so good to see them having a great time while exercising.

Ellen, one of the ladies in the class, stayed behind to chat with me while I shut down the studio and collected my things and she said some really beautiful things.

"You know Terie," she said, "I had so much fun in this class and in every class you teach." 

{{Blush, blush}} "Well thank you, how sweet of you to say that."

"I'm not just saying this, we all say this.  When you are not here to teach us, we really, really miss you." 

Again, if my skin wasn't already the color of a cinnamon stick I would be red all over.  I'm sure I was, it just didn't show--Ha!! 

Anyway, she went on to say this: 

"The ladies in this class are so amazing.  They know the true meaning of happiness.  They know that laughter is the best medicine and we all come to this class because you always make us laugh, sweat, and leave us with the desire to come back every time and we get a chance to socialize and check on each other before and after class.  People have to realize that if they surround themselves with lots of people and laugh at each other and with each other they will be relieved of stress and their body will not be ailing so much, at least not due to stress.  Sometimes stress is the culprit of most of our ailments, people just have to start laughing, start loving, and start living, and I mean really living." 

Ellen and her northern European accent were about to make me cry.  She boosted my ego and my own self esteem, but more importantly she impressed upon me the importance of learning to lookout for ourselves and for each other very early in life so that when we reach the young age of 70 we may be able to continue laughing, loving and living a long, active life.

I was really touched by her words of wisdom.  I walked away feeling proud, happy, and with a lesson on life I will always treasure.

Stay well,

 

Photo by Michelle Gibson

Don’t give up during the holiday season

Many people give up their normal wellness routine or put off starting until after the holidays; the good old New Year's resolutions that start the first week in January and end about 8 weeks later. You know how crazy things get in January when everyone suddenly realizes they ate too much over the holidays and "starting now, I'm going to get my health under control" and it's all high energy, high motivation for a while.

Unfortunately, it doesn't last and then you're back to square one- finding excuses for not exercising. Yes, you're busy with work, the kids, life everyone is busy doing something pretty much all the time. Is that ever going to change? Will you ever have "extra" time? You have to make time, it belongs to you. I've said it before, take care of your body and it will take care of you. How else will you fight disease, seasonal and life threatening?

I do realize we eat more, not just during the holidays but during the cold season. Personally speaking, I sometimes struggle to find warm and cozy meals and snacks that are within the boundaries of healthy nutrition and it can be a bit of a challenge. There are times I give in to a thick, creamy soup or a rich dinner meal just because steaming-hot foods are inviting when I'm cold. Another common threat this time of year is the "cookie exchange parties" I love so much, not just because there are hundreds of delectable, home-made cookies but also because I love the social time with friends. I wouldn't want to hurt someone's feeling by not trying their cookie. Thank goodness I manage to keep those parties far apart. I already know I have to create a deficit of calories and fat intake in my meals and I work extra hard at the gym to keep up with my added caloric intake. It happens.

 

Instead of thinking of this time of year as an opportunity to give up or not start a new routine, let's put a positive spin on the season. If you are already following a wellness plan (eating healthy, exercising, getting enough rest, managing your time) these tips are for you:

1. Continue to manage your time with your to-do list, your family or personal planner. You have to keep the balance and not let yourself fall behind in the name of the holidays.
2. Increase your exercise routine: Add more high intensity exercises, more aerobic and anaerobic activities and increase your weight lifting by a day, a few pounds or a few extra sets. This next six weeks you should be working harder and burning more fat and calories.
3. Find healthy substitutes for your meals and snacks, particularly during the cold days and nights: some ideas for warm snacks are Hot Cocoa with Whipped Cream instead of Marshmallows; hot herbal tea at night; oatmeal; broth soup; cooked vegetables; baked apple with raisins and a little brown sugar and spices makes a very tasty desert, a bowl of whole grain cereal with warm milk….

If you are not following a wellness program and are thinking to start in the New Year—why wait. You deserve to do this for yourself, especially during these busy weeks – getting started means:

1. Prepare a Gym bag and fill it with a water bottle, iPod and headphones, hand fruit (apple, orange), protein bars, a towel and your workout clothes –KEEP IT BY THE FRONT DOOR or in the car!
2. Set aside 1 hour as many times a week as possible, at least 4 times a week, to go to the gym, go for a long, fast walk, to exercise with a video tape at home, to be active in your own back yard. It doesn't matter when but make it happen.
3. Make a list of all the healthy foods you know you need and stock up your pantry with fresh fruit, oatmeal, hot cocoa, pudding, whole grain cereal, granola, brown rice, unsalted nuts. Stock your fridge with 1% or fat free milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, frozen vegetables, 100% fruit juice. You decide, but read that nutrition label and make sure you are not eating foods that are high in salt, sugar, fat, instead opt for high in protein and fiber.

Results – the benefits are obvious but I'll give you a hint—you will, no doubt, feel better, more energized, more alert and in the end you will be one less person talking about a New Year's resolution. Why wait until January or until Monday, START TODAY! Start NOW!

Stay Well,

Sleep, my toddler needs to do that

According to babycenter.com  my little man, Bear, needs approximately 13 hours of sleep, that is about 11 at night and 2 during the day, for proper growth and development and so that mommy gets a break. That, however, is not happening these days.  Maybe I bragged one too many times about what a great sleeper he was until he turned 23 months--then, everything changed.  I can almost compare that to the day my 14 year old turned thirTEEN. Scary times, but that's a story in itself.  

From what I can see, this is a study based only on my children, around the age of 18-20 months they figure out that they can walk, run, climb, push, pull, say NO!, MINE!, STOP! and get away with a lot, at least for a little while.  It wasn't long before my little angel,the baby that slept all night long, from 8:00 pm until 7:00 am AND took three hour naps during the day, started changing his routine. Was I consulted about this?  Did he submit a request to change his sleeping habits?  I DON'T THINK SO!!

Unfortunately, this change in sleep schedule affects me more than it affects him because he eventually goes to sleep and recovers from his late night partying. I, on the other hand, must continue my daily routine running on caffeine and little sleep. UGH!! It's exhausting.  He wakes up refreshed expecting me to chase him around the house or yard, the other kids come home full of energy expecting me to hear all bout their day, hubby comes home expecting dinner, my boss expects me to go to work and my teachers expect me to turn in my assignments.  OK too many expectations, not enough energy.

Last night was particularly special.  Bear had a hard time going to sleep at his usual time - 7:30 PM. He skipped his nap so naturally I thought going to sleep should not be an issue. We have had a pretty excellent routine around here so these sleep issues do throw a wrench in things.  But anyway, he eventually went to sleep around 8:00 PM--GREAT!!  He woke up at 1:30 AM--Yes, he did.  He stayed up until 4:30 AM!! I made life pretty boring for him; we sat on the couch and read, watched a little TV, played some music, I even went as far as rocking him--no luck.  One thing I have to say, we smiled,talked,hugged and kissed...it was really sweet.  At one point I didn't want to put him back in his crib---YEAH that lasted about 10 sweet seconds!

I have a plan...I must or I will crash and my patience will go out the window.  

Obviously my little Bear is growing and his needs are changing.  I need to adjust his schedule and his routine to make sure that he is eating enough during the day and getting enough active time as well. He plays a lot in the house but I have to admit, yesterday we did not go outside at all.  Give me a break I'm recovering from a head cold. :-)  Today we will go for several walks, we'll rake the leaves and play in the yard.  I have to work on getting things quiet around the house when his bedtime comes around because with three other sibblings making noise downstairs one could understand his hesitation to go to bed- he doesn't want to miss a thing and I don't blame him.  Now that he's older I have to let him pick a book to read before bed, that will give him something to look forward to as well.

As for me, I will have to recover from my lack of sleep by eating healthy, drinking lots of water (not coffee) and taking a nap. Maybe if I tire him enough he will sleep then I can do the same.  My workout for today will be with my sleepless little Bear, at least that will give me the energy I need to make it through the first part of the day.  Wish me luck!

Stay Well,