Helen Robinson asked:


At the age of 70 I retired. Happy days were ahead. I could do what I want, when I want and if I want to do nothing that’s okay too. I watched daytime TV, did the crossword puzzles, read the newspapers, and kept in touch with friends and family through email. I played some games on the computer and checked out the internet. Of course, I ate a lot because the food was there. When I did wander out, it was the mall or the supermarket where I could buy lots of goodies to keep me happy. When you’re retired, wandering aimlessly through the stores, spending money foolishly is not what you want to do. So what do you do? I didn’t want to be one of those old people sitting around waiting to die. I could see myself falling into a depression. Would you say I needed a new challenge in life!

The day of awakening came with a phone call from a friend. “The Parks Department has a Community Center nearby; they have all kinds of classes; let’s go check it out.” Now, I thought, what could I possibly do there? What I did find there was a low impact aerobics class that would help me take off the weight I had managed to put on. I joined the class, had a good time and met some really nice people. They were all discussing the line dance class they had joined and what fun it was. When I was about 10 years old, my brother who was five years older than I, used to practice his jitterbug on me and I grew up dancing during the wonderful era of the big bands. I didn’t get to dance much later in life and forgot how much I enjoyed it,

With a bit of trepidation I joined the line dance class. It wasn’t just country music anymore. They taught Mambo, Cha-Cha, Waltz, and I was in heaven. The only problem, since I was sure I knew how to dance, was thinking this was going to be soooooo easy! It turned out that I was the only newbie in the class and I also realized there’s no partner to lead me around the floor. At first I thought I must have turned stupid in my old age, but then realized that line dancing is mostly memory and my memory was not too sharp anymore. I was going to stick with it! The dances are a number of sets that are repeated during the dance and you have to be aware of the sequence, what steps come next. Fortunately, I did not take myself too seriously. Someone once said “dance as if no one is looking” so that’s exactly what I did. I laughed a lot, persevered and promised myself I would not give up. I finally did it! It all fell into place.

The moral of the story….. dance class is much less expensive than doctors and psychiatrists; it gives you a natural high! I lost weight; I lost inches; I started to eat healthier when I saw the weight loss and my memory has improved tremendously. I’m exercising my brain by learning something new with each dance. I learned so well, that at the age of 75, the Parks & Recreation Department offered me a job teaching line dancing. My students always compliment me on my youthful looks and demeanor; something I don’t mind hearing.

I just read that Socrates learned to dance when he was seventy because he felt that an essential part of himself had been neglected. Isn’t it funny that with all the aches and pains that come with age, I don’t feel a bit of pain when I dance? It must be that natural high’.



jack

Jasmine Stone asked:


Home exercise can be more fun when done with fitness videos. In fact, more people are hooked on buying exercise videos because of its vast range of availability. However, some people may doubt the advantages offered by fitness videos. If this is the problem, then they must know some of its great benefits.

Fitness videos are created for home exercises. Doing workouts at home provide a lot of benefits than going to the fitness gyms. First is the flexibility of schedules. People can do their workouts anytime without worrying how to deal with the crowd of exercisers in a gym. They don’t need to wait for the equipments, meet every scheduled class, or wear appropriate clothes for the exercise. Each fitness video can be used as many times as they want without any fees. But every time you go to a fitness gym, they are required to pay the price. They can also cut mileage expenses for driving cars from their home to a fitness gym.

Fitness videos are available in a wider range of different types of workouts including strength workouts, aerobic workouts, combination of these first two workouts (circuit workouts), stretching, yoga, and even mental exercises like meditation. These workouts are also available in different styles which include step aerobics, dance aerobics, Pilates, jump rope, and kickboxing.

Fitness videos are flexible. There are fitness videos for beginners, moderate exercisers, or advanced exercisers. People can also choose videos for particular purposes including workouts for children, for pregnant women, for seniors, and for individuals affected by back pains.

Fitness videos without requiring any fitness equipment. In addition, fitness videos using equipments such as rubber tubing, stability balls, mini-trampolines, aerobic steps, body bars, free weights, or multi-stationed home gyms are also available. Take note, there is always an available fitness video for any equipment.

Purchasing fitness videos are easy. These items can be found on the internet, department stores, and catalogs on fitness equipments. Shopping is very convenient and effortless. However, keep in mind these three tips:

- Get fitness videos according to the workouts you really enjoy.

- Select fitness videos that will meet your fitness goals. For example, your objective is to overcome stress then tai chi or yoga videos are good for you; if your goal is weight loss, then aerobic videos perfectly suits you; if you have previously done aerobics exercises, then more advanced dance choreography videos is perfect.

- Consider the space for doing the exercise. Choose fitness videos that are fitted to the area. Aerobic videos need a bigger space compared to yoga videos. Doing aerobic exercises needs forward, diagonal, or backward movements. While doing yoga simply needs one spot to stay.

Fitness videos are good tools for helping people get the right amount of workouts even at home. Structured routines are given and provide various types of exercise in various intensity levels.

Fitness videos are effective if followed. People just waste their money if they purchase fitness videos and just simply watch it and do nothing. They need to get up and do what must be done.



bonnie

sunshine02 asked:


Eating less, or cutting back on fat in your diet, won’t keep the weight off. What you really need to do is strike a good balance between the number of calories you consume and the number you burn. And the only way to do that is to exercise.

By exercising, you can lose weight while you eat more calories than if you simply went on a diet. Regular physical activity is much more effective at keeping the weight off in the long run than any diet.

With aerobic exercise, you can lose weight without drastically reducing the calories you consume or sacrificing important nutritional needs. One reason for this is because aerobic exercise not only elevates your metabolism while you’re exercising, it can also keep it elevated even after you’re done, depending of course on how long and how strong you exercise.

An aerobic program you stick with can help you lose weight easier because it can stimulate your body and make it burn calories. If weight control is your goal, some types of aerobic activity will work better than others. Low-impact aerobics, like walking, step aerobics and low-impact aerobic dance are your best bets. Some good no-impact aerobic activities you can benefit from include swimming, bicycling and rowing.

Your muscles burn calories during physical activity. Increase your muscle mass, and you’ll be increasing your body’s capacity to burn calories both during activity and at rest.

By incorporating strength training into your activity program, as well as following a moderate diet, you’ll be able to maintain lean muscle mass while you lose fat.

Start any strength-training program with one set of exercises and a weight that allows you to complete eight to 12 repetitions. Your program should exercise your legs, arms, chest and upper back. If you want to strengthen your stomach and lower back, increase the number of repetitions with weights that offer less resistance.

Follow a moderate low-fat diet and an exercise program that combines aerobic activity and strength training. That’s the key to losing weight – and keeping it off.

Begin slowly with exercises you find comfortable and build as your body becomes accustomed to the activity level. Don’t start out too hard or too fast. Chances are you may injure yourself or quit before you’ve done yourself much good.

Maintaining a lower, healthier body weight is something you can accomplish. So start now and keep on going!



allan

Jude Wright asked:

We all know we should be doing some form of exercise don’t we? But, most of us really don’t want to leave our home and go to a gym.

No matter which way you go, you are going to need exercise equipment and a room in your home to put them. Here are a few choices for the kinds of equipment that you might want to get:

The most popular workout equipment that is sold today is a treadmill. If the weather is cold, or if it’s raining or snowing you don’t have to worry about freezing. Just go into your exercise room (or space) and walk on your treadmill. Treadmills aren’t the heavy, clunky machines that they used to be. Most can now be folded up and stowed away in a closet or behind a screen.

A universal weight set is the next thing that you should think about getting. Universal weight sets can be set up so that you can exercise a wide range of muscles in the body. Pumping iron isn’t like it used to be in the old days. This type of exercise equipment can be set up to exercise just about any part of your body, from your legs, to your arms to you back…you name it.

Using just these two pieces of exercise equipment, you can improve both your cardio and your body’s strength.

The least expensive choice as to learning the correct ways to exercise is by purchasing a fitness video. You don’t even have to use special equipment with some of these videos. Some will be for yoga and others just for dancing and aerobic exercise. Here are some things to be aware of when looking for a fitness video:

1. Decide on what kind of fitness that you want to start with and buy a video for that one kind. Don’t try to start out with twenty different kinds of exercises. You’ll just give up overwhelmed and frustrated.

2. Start slowly by following the video examples one step at a time. Maybe you’ve decided to do an aerobics dance video first. Begin the routine and then stop when you get overly tired. Take a day off and then start again, going as far as you can without overtaxing yourself. Build up your workout routine time gradually.

3. Only when you can easily do the exercise routine in the aerobics video that you purchased, then go for another type of exercise such as Tai Bo.

Fitness videos are great for those who are shy or think that they are to fat to be seen at the gym. (Why is that? That’s what gyms are for!) Once you get a few routines down, you’ll start feeling healthier and have more stamina.

Some people may do better with a personal trainer. After all, you can’t “cheat” on your exercises if you have someone telling you exactly what, how and why you should do your exercising. A personal trainer will create an exercise routine that matches your fitness level. They are there to push you a bit but not to make you do more than your body will tolerate.

Here are some tips on hiring a personal trainer:

You should be able to find a personal trainer at your local gym. You can hire one of them or ask them for a referral for one for you to use in your home.

This could get a bit expensive. You might just decide that it would be less expensive for you to work out at the gym just to get you started. You could join for just a short time. Some gyms even have a “trial period” so you can test them out. The trainer would show you how to use the exercise equipment and you’ll go and apply the same methods at home.

It would probably be better to splurge on a personal trainer to begin with so that he (or she) can start you on the routine that will be best for you level of physical fitness. They are the experts and will guide you in the right direction.

Which ever way you decide to go, fitness video or personal trainer, you must get started. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be. Just do it!

marhin