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Exercises – Just for YOU!

Exercises–Just for YOU!
Getting started with an exercise routine can be the beginning of the best gift you’ll ever give yourself–and your loved ones.  The key idea is ‘routine.’   Here are some thoughts on how important it is to make moving a part of your life that you’ll miss if you miss a day.

Exercise Snacks

Exercise Snacks Here’s a novel New Year’s resolution – Exercise Snacks! I just love this term for adding brief  (and I mean brief – 2 minutes is fine) exercise bursts into your daily routine because […]

Longevity Boosters: Exercise and Friends

 According to a study of approximately 123,000 men and women, you can potentially extend your lifespan by an additional 12 to 14 years if you: Exercise regularly Stay Social Eat a healthy diet Drink only […]

Better Posture = Better Breathing!

Try this: Sitting in a chair, look down and  slouch forward so your torso and head are rounded forward and take a deep breath. Easy?  Hard? Now. Pretend that there is a hook in the […]

Brittle Bones

About 10 million Americans have osteoporosis, and 48 million have low bone mass density, or osteopenia, which can be a precursor for osteoporosis.  Osteoporosis is a serious condition because it makes your bones brittle, increasing […]

Got Arthritis? MOVE!

Got Arthritis?  MOVE! If you have arthritis, one of the best things you can do to maintain joint function is to move. “Moves that specifically target arthritic joints can help you preserve strength and flexibility […]

Power Up!

Power UP! You probably know that strength training is good for you, but guess what?  There’s something even more important than simply working on muscle strength (though that is still important!).  It’s called Power Training.   Power Training […]

It’s Never Too Late!

I just read an article in the October 2020  Harvard Magazine that’s an excerpt from a terrific new book by Daniel Lieberman called Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding […]

Exercise – What’s in it for me?

What comes to mind when you think about the benefits of exercise?  Many of us think “weight loss – if I could just lose that last 10 pounds……”    True, regular exercise can help with weight […]

Squats 101

Even though their name is somewhat mundane, squats are one of my favorite exercises.  Squats are one of the most practical and functional ways of improving your lower body strength, which is key to fall […]

Dance!!

In addition to providing physical, psychological, and social benefits, did you know that dancing is also really good for your brain?   In a new study from Germany in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, researchers divided healthy […]

Love Those Lunges!

Lunges are some of the most functional strength training exercises.  Lower body strength is crucial for fall prevention and longevity, and for simply being able to do the things we want to do in everyday […]

What’s even better for your brain than crossword puzzles?

If you’ve been doing wordle, crossword puzzles or Sudoku to sharpen your cognitive skills, (or even if you haven’t!) you might be interested in the recent research review that examined 72 studies (including literature reviews […]

10,000 steps…….. or not!

You have probably heard of the recommendation to walk at least 10,000 steps each day.  This is a commendable goal, but if we don’t reach that target, it’s tempting to simply give up and throw […]

Have a HEART!

As you may know, February is American Heart Month. Do you know the signs of a heart attack?  Do those dramatic scenes in a movie come to mind where the man clutches his chest and […]

NEAT!

If you are one of the millions of people that don’t enjoy traditional exercise, take heart!  You’ll be happy to hear about the NEAT term, which stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.   (Big word, so I […]

Can Exercise Help Your Vision?

Perhaps! There’s an intriguing article in the January 2022 Berkeley Wellness Letter that looks at a number of meta-studies about the relationship between exercise and cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration.   The evidence shows that being […]

Tai Chi – Give it a Try!

Full disclosure – I’m writing about something I know very little about, but I keep reading about the benefits of Tai Chi  for older adults in very reputable publications, so just had to pass this […]

Happy New You! 

(Helpful hints to help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions) It’s that time of year again, where we vow to make some sort of fitness related resolution, only to have abandoned our best intentions […]

Holiday Fitness Tips

You know you “should” keep active all year long, but when you add holidays to the mix, many of us find exercise becomes less of a priority. However, staying active in some way will give […]

Walking Workout Tips

Surprisingly, there are lots of ways to make your walking routine more interesting and beneficial. Warm Up Gradually If you’re going to go for a “power walk,” be sure to start off at a more […]