Staying active has been drummed in your head forever and keeping active  after age 50 has been pounded in your brain. I’m not sure whether it is guilt or determination, but it is so common for people to try and catch up to a level of fitness – and do it all at once – that they injure themselves. Mayo Clinic has even titled the phenomena as ‘boomeritis’.

Listen to your body is a long time mantra of mine.

I believe men are a lot more guilty of overdoing fitness goals, much of it to keep up with the manly superman image our culture imposes on them. I’m sure hormones play a major role.

Hormones also play a major role for women to pay attention to their bodies. In fact they tend to shout during the monthly menstrual cycles and during pregnancy and women become accustomed to listening to their bodies. Women also want to have good looking bodies, just as men,  but they’re more focused on weight loss  rather than fitness.

So for all you men and many of you women who also become to ambitious, here are some tips to avoid boomeritis.

• Get your doctor’s approval before you start a new exercise program.

• Warm up for 10-15 minutes to get your blood flowing. You’re more likely to injure cold muscles.

• Stretch all the time. Once you get past age 40, your joints and tissues become less flexible. Stretch after exercise, when muscles are warm.

• Cross train doing different types of activities. Balance strength training with flexibility exercises and cardio vascular workouts with strength training.

• Be consistent in how frequent and the duration you exercise. You can’t get 5 days worth of exercise done in one weekend. You will hurt yourself.

• Give your muscles time to recover. Lifting weights 2 or 3 times a week works.

• Avoid improper stretching. Stretching without a proper warm—up or warming up with ballistic stretches instead of using static stretches will hurt you.

• Avoid using the wrong equipment will get you into trouble for sure. For you that could mean doing wrist curls with 12 pound weights instead of using 8 pounders.

There is no major secret here, just common sense. To prevent overuse simply don’t exercise too much, too often and too intensely in a short period of time.

To your success at healthy aging.
Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
Copywriter and Content Marketer
http://ruthanbrodsky.com
http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com

We know that staying active and fit prevents or delays illness and disability as we age. Staying active also prolongs our lives. However, as we sneak pass the age of 50 and older our bodies are less forgiving and injuries can take place more easily when we push ourselves beyond what we can do.

Mayo Clinic gave it the name boomeritis. These are the baby boomers now in their 50s and 60s who are much fitter and more athletic  than their parent’s generation. However as they hit the slopes, the tennis courts, run marathons, play hockey and tour the world on mountain bikes there’s been an increase in many of the common injuries such as bursitis, tendinitis, stress fractures and tendon tears such as rotator cuff  injuries.

Here are some tips to help you avoid boomeritis.

First, talk to your health care providers.  Make sure they approve when you are thinking about biking in the Pyrenees or walking the Appalachian trial.

Start slowly and increase your activity gradually for everything you do.

Warm up and warm up properly
A good warm-up prepares your body for the activity by getting the blood flowing. Before I work on strength training I warm up with an aerobic activity for 15 minutes to get the blood flowing. That raises my muscle temperature and my heart rate.  Walking on a treadmill or cycling in low gear are good warm-ups. Cold muscles are prone to more injuries.

Even if you’re going to begin a round of golf or play your usual doubles tennis game, do something aerobic to warm up. If you’re going to play golf you may want to think about stretching after 10 minutes on the treadmill to get your full range of motion

Use proper technique.
If you’re using the machines in the gym for strength training or lifting free weights make sure you are using them correctly. Have one of the trainers check out your technique on the machines. For instance, allowing the knees to extend beyond the toes during a lunge or squat places too much stress on your knees. Using momentum to lift weights that are too heavy for you puts you at high risk for injury. Not adjusting the exercise machines to your body size can also cause injury.  Most of the equipment can accommodate a range of body types and sizes but you are the captain of your body and it’s up to you to adjust each machine to your own body. If you’re not sure ask a staff member for help.

Reading  or watching TV while you exercise can be distracting. Be careful.

If you’re taking fitness classes such as yoga or Pilates you need to move at your own pace. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

I know this information is just common sense but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded to be more alert. I know I need that poke every once in a while.

Have you had boomeritis? I am curious about our readers’  most common injury so if you want to list your injuries in the comment box maybe we’ll get some good feedback and pass it on to others.

Thanks

To your healthy aging and your fitness.

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
Content Marketer
http://ruthanbrodsky.com
http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com

You may find the idea of exercising on a regular basis as completely unappealing. You have got to know by now, everything you’ve read, everything you’ve heard on TV, even your health care providers are telling you to exercise to lose weight and stay fit.

Study after study shows exercise to have huge benefits. Not is it only good for the body but it’s also good for your mind and spirit.

Earlier this month I wrote a post about why you should exercise. Since tht short time I’ve found a few more reasons why it’s so important for you.

My favorite is exercise boosts brain power, well into your later years. There are thought that it may even help to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and a few other mental disorders. It’s no mystery how this happens. Exercise improves the way you transport oxygen to the brain. Increased levels of oxygen carrying blood cells in the brain increase you abiity to focus, to think, and to be alert. There have been studies, in fact, about the importance of physical activity and mental ability.

Exercise also improves your sex life. If you think about exercise to boost your blood flow because of the improvement of oxygen uptake it makes sense then that the ability to increase and control penile blood flow also increases.

Exercise can helps to prevent back problems
Certain exercises such as resistance work, yoga, Pilates and swimming all help to develop strong spinal muscles. This not only improves posture but it also means that you have less risk of developing temporary or chronic back problems.

You can eat more calories when you exercise.
I have a friend who jogs 6 miles 7 days a week so she can eat her half packet of M & Ms and not worry about gaining weight. Most of us should think of exercise as helping us NOT to GAIN weight. However, people who train for marathons and compete in major physical programs such as rowing or rock climbing will need to consume extra calories just to maintain their weight.

People who exercise regularly have fewer colds.
That is important to know during the winter cold season . I’m sure I mentioned it before but exercise does boost the immune system. People who exercise have a higher concentration of white blood cells than non-exercisers. White blood cells help to combat flue, colds and other airborne viruses.

Exercise is an important part of my life. When I’m on deadline and stressed I sometimes take a 20 minute fast walk in the neighborhood. That seems to clear my head and I’m able to get more done following the walk. Scheuling time for exercise isn’t easy but I will do it because it keeps me flexible and it makes me feel like I have some control over my body shape.

What about you. Do you exercise regularly?  What are your reasons for exercising? Anything like mine? Let’s put our own list together for exercising and see if we can arrive at a few unique reasons of our own.

To your healthy aging

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
http://ruthanbrodsky.com
http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com

In my last post I just wrote about how and why to start an exercise routine. I haven’t changed my mind. However, no matter the volumes of articles and programs reminding us to increase our heart rate or our oxygen intake with exercise, there are times when it’s better to avoid exercise – at least temporarily.

1.    When you are ill.
Seriously consider not exercising when you are not well, even if it’s a bad cold. Strenuous exercise may put more strain on your immune system and prolong your illness. You also put yourself at higher risk for injury when you’re ill because it’s harder to concentrate, your balance could be off, and you could have trouble breathing with something as simple as a stuffy nose.

2.    You haven’t had enough recuperation time.
Whether you’re recovering from a strained muscle from lifting weights or from gall bladder surgery, starting to exercise too early is only asking for problems. You are likely to injure yourself again. When you do go back to the gym, forget your regular routine. Start slowly and only do 25 percent or 50 percent of your usual routine.

3.    Feeling tired and very stressed.
It’s your body telling you to take a break. Give yourself permission to have a day off and don’t mentally punish yourself for not going to the gym. Keep in mind that all around fitness is a combination of physical and mental or spiritual well-being. Even though exercise brings us that stress reducing endorphin high, sometimes it’s just good to relax.

4.    When you don’t have the right equipment.
If you’re getting shin splints when you jog it could be that the 6 month old shoes you wear, or at least the inner sole of the shoes. Also be careful about following the latest trend for exercise equipment. If you’re looking for equipment visit a good sports shop who have well trained staff to help you out.

5.    If you woke up with a hangover.
Forget about going to your early morning aerobic class. First of all alcohol dehydrates you so you need to drink lots of water. You also need to ask yourself if you’re still under the influence? And when did you eat last? Eating breakfast with a hangover may be the last thing you want to do which means you won’t have any energy for exercising.

Using common sense should be your guideline about when to not exercise. Be honest with yourself, however. If you decide to not exercise because you’re bored with your current routine, work out another type of routine and find someone to help you do that.  And keep in mind all those times you’ve said I just don’t feel like it but you exercised anyway and came away saying, I’m really glad I did that.

If you know of another good reason to not exercise, let us know. Type your answer in the comment box. Do you think the 6 reasons I’ve posted are good enough to stop exercising – at least for a while? Type your answers in the comment box.

To your success at healthy aging,
Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
Copywriter & Content Marketer
http://ruthanbrodsky.com
http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com

If you are thinking about including exercising  as one of your goals for the New Year, think again. I don’t think there’s any reason to wait another 40 days. Given that the holidays are around the corner we would all be giving the greatest gift to ourselves if we started our exercise program now and kept it going  during the holidays.

We all know about the 12 days before Christmas. These are my 12 reasons to continue exercising, increase your exercising program, or just simply start one.

1.    Exercise improves the quality of your life.
There is much truth to the saying that exercise adds life to your years and years to your life. A well designed exercise program for you, regardless of age, will give you more energy to do the things you enjoy.

2.    Exercise improves your mood and relieves depression.
If you need to blow of steam after a stressful day, go exercise. Researchers found that those who are mildly depressed experience a positive mood swing by exercising 15-30 minutes at least every other day. Read the rest of this entry

Lifestyle factors are often a major cause of arterial stiffening and for the cell lining to dysfunction. To improve the suppleness of your arteries, your first step is to work in a daily routine of aerobic activity. Interestingly, aerobic exercise may have the largest positive impact. Several tests, including the 1993 Baltimore study, showed that older adults who do regular aerobic exercise have less arterial stiffness than those who don’t do anything aerobic.

On the other hand, once your arteries are stiff, regular aerobic exercise only helps slightly. Men improve more with aerobic activity than women, however. Right now no one is sure why that is.  Regardless of your age or gender, it’s a good idea to increase your aerobic activity.

Your next step is to reduce your salt or sodium intake because less salt in your diet will slow down the arteries becoming stiff. The same is true for consuming less high fat content foods. The research show that a few hours after you’ve eaten a high-fat meal, your artery looks just like the arteries of a person who has heart disease.

Your third step is to reduce the amount of fat you consume in your meals because the cells in the lining of your arteries become more dysfunctional because of the fat.

What you should be doing to improve the condition of your arteries is to consume more fruits and vegetables and more foods with omega-3 fats. It was also pointed out that the arteries of people  who gained weight also tended to  become stiff. When weight is loss the arteries in those same people become less stiff.

In other words if your arteries are staff and their lining is impaired you are setting yourself up for heart disease and dementia. To make your arteries more supple you should be:

• Getting regular aerobic exercise;

• Cutting back on sodium and saturated fat;

• Eating a diet packed with fruits and vegetables;

• Eating two servings of seafood a week;

• And exercising and watching calories to lose weight or avoid gaining excess belly fat.

Interestingly none of this is new information. We read these instructions in every health magazine and hear them in every cable interview of how to stay healthy. With all this information about arteries that stiffen, the repeated advice just becomes more important.

To your success at healthy aging.
Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer

http://ruthanbrodsky.com

http://fromretirementtocarerchange.com

There are now tests that show your arteries are stiffening long before you have symptoms or any heart disease appears. Apparently, many people in middle aged and older who once thought they were healthy are not so healthy. That is not good news because the evidence shows that changes in an aging circulatory system, even among those who don’t have outward symptoms, are at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. The greater these changes the bigger the risk.

Here are 3 changes to consider:

High blood pressure. When your arteries are stiff, your heart has to work harder to pump the blood out. This condition can lead to heart failure particularly if the person has high blood pressure.

Ninety percent of people develop high blood pressure if they live long enough. Most of this is systolic hypertension which is due directly to your stiffening arteries.

Systolic pressure, the maximum pressure on the arteries when the heart contracts and pushes blood out, is the top number in a blood pressure reading. Not that long ago the systolic high blood pressure was though to not matter. Now it’s recognized that increased systolic blood pressure with age is linked to blood pressure change that’s often the cause of premature death in adults over age 50.

Heart attacks & strokes

Based on several studies, including  17 international studies that tracked nearly 16,000 men and women for eight years, those who entered the study with the stiffest arteries were twice as likely to later die from a heart attack even though they had no sign of heart disease.  The consensus is that arterial stiffness is as good a predictor of future cardiovascular disease as cholesterol.

Cognitive decline.

If your arteries can’t expand and contract easily because they are stiff they can’t shield your smaller blood vessels from the regular burst of blood that the heart puts out. The thinking that this  may damage your brain was confirmed by the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging which reported that those who entered the study with stiffer arteries were more likely to show declines in verbal learning skills and memory.

What makes matters worse is there’s no way you can tell that your arteries are in poor shape.  More on what you can do about arterial stiffening in my next post.

To your success at healthy aging.

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky

Content Marketer & Copywriter

http://ruthanbrodsky.com

http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com

Ruthan Brodsky.com

Your heart has to work harder when you exercise because it needs to increase its pumping ability to meet your body’s increased demand for oxygen. Oxygen is the fuel your muscles need to work. Remember the stories about the old steam engine trains. To go faster or up a hill the coal man needed to shovel and burn more coal to increase the steam to fuel the engine. Coal was the fuel. Steam was the output and energy to push the engine was the result.

Well, your heart works like a steam locomotive but its pumping blood not steam. The amount of blood it pumps each minute is referred to as cardiac output. Younger people can easily increase their cardiac output during exercise to three and half times over their resting level. By age 80 this ability to increase cardiac output during exercise declines to about two. Part of that decline is due to stiffer arteries.

It’s not just the walls of your arteries that make than stiffer as you get older; it’s also the lining.

The endothelium is the inner lining of cells in all of the arteries in your body. It’s the lining that regulates where the blood flows and how much goes to the organs as needed. It’s the lining that keeps the blood in a fluid state so that it doesn’t clot. As we get older the lining doesn’t perform its function as well and contributes to stiffness. High blood pressure and cholesterol problems plus all the lifestyle damage you collected over the years also contribute to the reduced function of the lining.

These endothelial cells produce nitric oxide, a gas that relaxes and dilates blood vessels. When you impaired lining produces less nitric oxide a vicious cycle is set in motion. For instance, nitric oxide also prevents platelets and white blood cells from sticking to the blood vessel. That means the less nitric oxide the more plaque buildup you get on your artery walls. This reduces the production of nitric oxide even more and there is more plaque.

In other words the endothelium is a barometer of the health of your blood vessels because it’s one of the first things to go haywire and lead to atherosclerosis, the primary reason for heart attacks and stroke. `

There are now tests to determine if stiffening arteries are taking place. Many people of middle and advance age, who appear healthy and without symptoms, have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than previously thought.

In my next post I’ll describe more of the consequences of stiffening arteries. Which brings to mind what my father in law use to say as he struggled with diabetes?
“Getting old isn’t for sissies.”

Take care and wishing you healthy aging.
Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
Copywriter and Content Marketer
http://ruthanbrodsky.com
http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com

Getting older means that incredible organ, your heart, is also aging. The bad new is that as you get older specific cardiovascular changes take place that can impair your heart and blood vessel function. These changes lead to reduced physical and mental ability as well as increasing your risk for cardiovascular disease.

I haven’t read any research that explains how we can stop the clock. However, scientists have learned much about the reasons for the aging process. One of the major reasons for getting older is stiff arteries.

No one has to tell us that our ability to run, to hit a long drive, to serve an ace, to keep up with our grand kids declines as we get older. We usually attribute that to aging.

Scientists are now learning that the large arteries, the aorta and the carotid arteries that keep oxygen-rich blood flowing through our body lose some of their capacity to widen or narrow. The arteries are most supple at about age 30 and then start stiffening. They become less compliant and tend to stiffen as we get older. In fact, it’s this arterial stiffening that’s a major cause why some people develop hypertension, heart disease and strokes.

The two main structural proteins in the large artery walls are collagen and elastin. Collagen holds the arteries together and elastin gives the blood vessels the elasticity they need to manage the blood flow.

The problem is that as we get older, the amount of collagen increases in the arteries and starts binding with other collagen strands making the large arteries more rigid. If there’s extra glucose (your blood sugar) in the blood the binding increases and the glucose starts binding with the collagen. Meanwhile, the elastin proteins stretch out and start to rupture. That makes the arteries lose their flexibility.

However, as grim as this picture looks, not everyone’s arteries stiffen at the same rate. Some 80 year olds have very stiff arteries while others have arteries that aren’t very different from a 20 year old. The good news is you can slow down how fast your arteries age.

More about getting older and how you can slow the process of stiffening arteries in my next post.

If you know that you have a problem with stiff arteries and you’re learning to deal with the condition, tell us what you’re doing. Type your experience in the comment box.

To your healthy aging,

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky

Health & Business Writer

Copywriter & Content Marketer

http://ruthanbrodsky.com

http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com

Centenarians, people who live to be 100, are more likely to have a relative that lived a long time than the average person. Even so, the degree for which genetics plays a major roll in being active in your 80s and 90s isn’t as important as the lifestyle you keep and maintained throughout the years.

Dr. Nir Barzilai, a geneticist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, agrees that a healthy lifestyle is the dominant factor in a healthy old age. It also appears that people who live well in their 80s and 90s are better at coping with the whatevers that happen to them in live.

In a recently published book, Treat Me, Not My Age, Dr. Mark Lachs discusses two major areas that influence how well older people are able to function.

The first he calls physiologic reserve which is the excess capacity in organs and biological systems we’re born with which decreases over time. As we get older the excess is lost at different rates.

When we get older and most of the excess is gone we usually experience little change. The trick is to slow down the loss of this physiologic reserve. For example, we’re born with billions of brain cells we never use and many of them can be lost or diseased before we experience cognitive loss.

The second area is muscle strength declining with age. Most of us achieve peak muscle strength when we’re between 20 and 30. After that strength slowly declines and we’re more likely to fall or it becomes more difficult to do daily activities like getting out of an SUV. Thankfully, most of us don’t notice it until we’re 80 or 90.

Here too the age of loss of mobility can be modified especially by making the right lifestyle choices in midlife. For instance, if you begin a daily exercise or walking program at the age of 45 you could delay immobility to 90 and beyond. On the other hand, if you become a couch potato at 45 you may become immobile at age 60.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2004 showed that elderly people who recovered from a hip fracture and began strengthening exercises were able to increase their walking speed, balance and muscle strength and reduce their risk of falls and fractures.

I realize these guidelines apply to relatively healthy people. Those who have chronic illnesses such as diabetes or arthritis or heart and circulatory problems are going to find it more difficult to reach those goals. However, they too can modify their longevity with lifestyle changes also by not using their health problems as an excuse for not exercising to some degree and certainly for not eating well.

I haven’t written anything new and I’m probably preaching to the choir if you’re subscribing to this blog in the first place! If so, take the information as I am, as a confirmation to stay with those goals of exercise for mobility and healthy eating.

To your healthy aging,

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
Content Marketer & Copywriter
http://ruthanbrodsky.com
http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com