Posts Tagged exercise

Sharon Simmons Is Fit In Her Fifties

May 15

Posted by ira in aging, exercise, OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES | No Comments

Sharon Simmons in pink (rt) trying out for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad…at age 55

Saw this article about a 56-year-old woman, Sharon Simmons, who has worked out for over 35 years and started competing in fitness competitions just seven years ago, at 49. Of the 20 she entered, she came in first in nine and placed in two national competitions. She also wrote a couple of books about fitness, not letting age and others’ opinions hold you back, and at 55 tried out for a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader slot. You have to admire her spirit and fearlessness to take emotional risks.

No doubt she is exceptional with her physical abilities and looks at her age. Few grandmothers look like her. And even fewer women in their mid-fifties. But her attitude and life style are part of the reason. Check out her web site . And here are excerpts of the article, which includes eight of her lessons for aging and living well.

the Texas granny

1. “It’s really not all about winning.”

Though Simmons has a long list of fitness competition wins, having a place in the winners’ circle isn’t what motivates her.

“It’s about getting there,” she realized after her first fitness competition in Las Vegas in 2006.

3. “Never allow anyone else to set your limitations for you.”

Over the course of her fitness modeling career, Simmons has had her fair share of criticism from friends, family and strangers alike, she said.

“People think that people over 50 should be on a porch in a rocking chair… Where would I be if I listened to them?” she said with a laugh. “We are in control of what we do to a certain extent. There’s this stigma that ‘Oh, they’re grandparents, they should really start slowing down or retiring.’ Well, why? We’re only just beginning!”

7. “Don’t lose sight of your goals. If you get sidetracked, get back on.”

Don’t beat yourself up if you find yourself veering off course from your goals, Simmons advised. Failing to get back on course is worse than dusting yourself off and trying again. “[Figure out] how do I get there and then establish those steps,” she said, “because it will be small steps that get [you] to that goal.”

Tags: aging, exercise, go for it, other people's stories, Sharon Simmons

Love This Doctor!

May 13

Posted by ira in diet, exercise, humorous stories | No Comments

He gives great advice

A friend sent me this advice from a doctor he met. I love the insights and contrarian views.

Q: Doctor, I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Heart only good for so many beats, and that it… Don’t waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speeding up heart not make you live longer; it like saying you extend life of car by driving faster. Want to live longer? Take nap.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: Oh no. Wine made from fruit. Brandy distilled wine, that mean they take water out of fruity bit so you get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made of grain. Bottom up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have body and you have fat, your ratio one to one. If you have two body, your ratio two to one.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can’t think of single one, sorry. My philosophy: No pain…good!

Q: Aren’t fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU NOT LISTENING! Food fried in vegetable oil. How getting more vegetable be bad?

Q : Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Oh no! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only be doing sit-up if you want bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: You crazy?!? HEL-LO-O!! Cocoa bean! Another vegetable! It best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming good for figure, explain whale to me.

Q: Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! ‘Round’ is shape!

Well… I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

AND REMEMBER:

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO-HOO, what a ride!!”

AND…..

For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health. It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans…

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Tags: diet, enjoying life, exercise, humor, staying fit

Thoughts On Motivation And Living By A Military Amputee

Mar 11

Posted by ira in exercise, gym stuff, LIFE LESSONS, OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES | No Comments

This amazing story by Derick Carver—the amputee in the video above— was sent to me by a reader in Japan and is very inspirational. It’s also a good kick in the butt or take-your-breath-away punch in the stomach about how to live your life. Coincidentally, I also served at Fort Bragg, learning to jump from planes and becoming Airborne, and also spent time—a month—recuperating in Walter Reed Hospital, after I returned from non-combat, military duty in Korea with hepatitis. Other than that, of course, there is NO comparison…

In early 2010, I was serving as a Platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne. On a dismounted patrol my platoon was ambushed by the Taliban and I lost my leg in combat. I flatlined 3 times, I endured 47 surgeries, would need 52 blood transfusions. I fought through them, and I continue to fight every day of my life. I will fight until the day I die. I am an American Airborne Ranger…that is what I do.

People always ask, “What motivates you?” This question comes up at least 3 times a week while in the gym. I can only assume someone sees me, my leg and other injuries and imagines how difficult it must have been to recover from such a traumatic event. My response is always the same, “What the hell else am I supposed to do?” Three years ago I was an Infantry Officer with the 82nd Airborne, had a Ranger Tab, and I was jumping out of airplanes and leading men in combat. Now, because according to your standards I’m “disabled,” am I supposed to be a different person? Sit around and feel sorry for myself? That’s not in my nature; it’s not a choice I’m willing to accept.

Motivation or the lack thereof is a choice. Just like everything else in our lives Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Derick Carver, exercise, gym stuff, life lessons, other people's stories

Unbelievable Exercises To Challenge Any Human

Feb 2

Posted by ira in exercise, gym stuff | No Comments

This demonstration of 44 bodybuilding exercises is beyond belief, if you are like me and have never seen or heard of some of them. Unfortunately they are not do-able if you are a mere mortal. I suspect gymnasts could do some of these, but not many ordinary humans. There is one of them I might take a crack at. I will let you know if I break or tear any body parts…I did it, and I am sore all day…

Tags: astonishing exercises, exercise, exercises for supermen, gym stuff

Physical Activity Feeds Your Brain

Dec 26

Posted by ira in exercise, health | 2 Comments

Two weeks without tennis wasn’t SO bad, because at least I was walking and climbing steps each day during sightseeing in Japan. My first week home, I played tennis four different days, and though I am still jet lagging, and almost collapsed in the third and fourth sets two days after returning, my game and energy improved greatly by the end of the week.

Now here is an article suggesting an emerging scientific view of human evolution: we are clever today in part because a million years ago, we could outrun and outwalk most other mammals over long distances. Our brains were shaped and sharpened by movement, the idea goes, and we continue to require regular physical activity in order for our brains to function optimally.

Later on, the author writes, if physical activity helped to mold the structure of our brains, then it most likely remains essential to brain health today…Recent studies have shown that “regular exercise, even walking,” leads to more robust mental abilities, “beginning in childhood and continuing into old age.”

Well looking at Buddhist temples and gardens for six hours a day in 40-degree weather sure took its toll on me…I was often exhausted. And I suddenly became aware of all the people behind store counters standing all day to earn a living. I basically sit a lot, writing or reading on the computer. Tennis stamina aside, I am definitely not used to being on my feet for hours and hours. However real physical body movement is now a regular part of my life. It’s good for health and stimulates my brain. Are you keeping active? And fiddling with a TV remote or game controller does not count as useful physical activity!

Tags: benefits of physical activity, exercise, health, importance of athletics

Amy Serfass’s Fitness Camp For Women

Nov 14

Posted by ira in diet, exercise, weight loss/overweight | 2 Comments

Amy Serfass (left) leads her Booty Camp

I met Amy Serfass at a Tough Mudder obstacle course she was traversing and wrote about her abs. Now it’s Amy’s turn to write about her views on fitness, diet and health and especially her group training program for women.

Ladies—Make group training your new gym membership and avoid becoming an overweight statistic.

Two thirds of women are trying to lose weight at any given time, but 64% of women are still overweight and unhappy, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention). Even if you’re not in the fitness industry, the average female acknowledges obesity is on the rise and, in-fact; more women (35%) are obese compared to men (32%). This had me thinking. What is truly keeping women from working out? I polled fellow females and found these common reasons:

Amy is always ready to get tough with her ladies

1. I don’t have time – #1 reason!!!
2. I don’t have anyone to exercise with
3. I don’t feel comfortable working out at a traditional box gym
4. I don’t know where to begin or what to do
5. I don’t have any motivation or energy

I got into this industry and became a certified personal trainer because I wanted to help women from becoming an overweight statistic. I wanted to motivate them to exercise while making them feel better about themselves and their bodies. That’s why I decided to specialize in women and weight loss and create group training experiences specifically for females.

Group training for women provides a platform to meet other females with similar health and fitness goals. In a group setting, you find the energy and motivation that one-on-one training can’t always provide. It eliminates the need to know where to begin or what to do, because you’re following a professional that has your best interests in mind. Group training also reduces the risk of boredom, helps you avoid exercise plateaus, and provides much needed exercise variety to keep you coming back.

Most importantly, you are part of a positive community, creating lifelong friendships, and accomplishing goals you never thought possible. I have had clients complete their first 5k together, their first mud/obstacle run, organize marathon parties, or attend social events as a unit. All of these events have been accomplished from meeting other females at a group fitness program dedicated just for women.

Achieving or maintaining a healthy weight is not just about fitness. Weight loss is at least 80% nutrition, 20% fitness. With my group training program, known as Amy’s Booty Camp, I focus on nutrition by providing guidance from a certified nutritionist. Members are also required to log their food, which keeps them accountable and disciplined. One rule of thumb is cutting carbohydrates past 3pm. It’s necessary to have good carbohydrates in your diet, such as whole grains, because they act as your immediate source of energy for the body. Your brain uses about 450 calories of carbohydrates every day. However, if eaten in excessive amounts, the body changes them into fats and stores them in that form. By eating good carbohydrates before 3pm you allow your body more time to burn them off, so they are less likely to be stored as fat.

Offering nutrition expertise while working out at least 2 days per week has led one female to lose 27 lbs and 14.5 total inches in just 2 months with Amy’s Booty Camp!

group support helps the inches disappear

Many of us feel that we don’t have time to work out. The women in Booty Camp MAKE the time to commit because they are unable to get the results on their own. Booty Camp also provides personal time away from work, family, and the daily stresses of life. By making the class fun, friendly, and full of variety, I am able to keep members continually enrolled. Booty Camp is also for the early risers. We train two days per week for 5 weeks at 6:15 am for an hour. Statistics show that 90% of people who work out in the morning stick to their exercise routines.

After each 5-week Booty Camp program, we take no more than one week off before starting the program over again. I stay in touch with the ladies via email and Facebook during their week off, continually offering them healthy tips and guidance to stay connected and keep them motivated. The program runs exclusively in the Upper East Side area of New York City at a studio on 67th Street & 3rd Avenue.

For more information on my growing Booty Camp program please visit my web site.

Amy Serfass
NASM Certified (National Academy of Sports Medicine)
Master Trainer at Australian Institute of Fitness

Tags: Amy Serfass, Amy's Booty Camp, carbohydrate moderation for weight loss, diet, exercise, group training gives support, weight loss/overweight

Decision-Making Can Be Treacherous

Nov 13

Posted by ira in exercise, hunting, LIFE LESSONS | No Comments

digging out of a 30-inch-high snow drift

This little adventure is a lesson in decision-making.

We were stuck in the snow the other day. It was 30 inches deep in some places, but who knew? It’s like walking through a puddle and discovering it’s over your head.

My buddy and I were stocking pheasants for the next day’s hunt…you know hiding the birds in the bushes, so the hunters and their dogs would have the challenge of finding them. And we came up to this snow-covered road with truck tracks that stopped in the middle. But the storm had only dropped 3-6 inches. How deep could this drift be? We saw that it was around a foot, so my friend felt his truck could make it. He shifted into 4-wheel drive, hit the gas, and I said to him, “You sure have balls.” I always admire courage and the willingness to take chances.

free after half an hour

Within seconds we were stopped. Too much snow to push, the wheels spinning, the undercarriage completely clogged in white. Fortunately we were just a 100 yards from the barn, where there were shovels to dig us out. It took half an hour at least to clear the truck and then about 50 feet of road. I was hoping that this could count as my exercise for the day and that I wouldn’t die of a heart attack. While we were digging, my friend told me of a 60-year-old guy he knew who just last month had been dragging a deer he shot out of the forest and dropped dead of a heart attack. Just what I needed.

I often think of how one poor decision can be so costly. The actor who played Superman, Christopher Reeve, took one horrible jump on a horse and became a quadriplegic for the rest of his life. How he must have hated that decision for the nine years he lived after it (he died at just 52).

I met a man who owned one of the most well-known public companies in America, and told me his big mistake was buying another well-known department store chain. It put the combined operation into bankruptcy, and cost him almost $100 million personally.

Digging out of the snow is not in that league. I wasn’t in a hurry and took breaks when I was tired. I didn’t strain my back, because I was careful…after straining it two days earlier, when my car wouldn’t start, and I had to push it out of traffic. Small decisions for me so far. I have made much bigger ones that were good ones, like marrying my wife, starting a business, relocating to a farm. No guts, no glory. I love taking chances. Some people hate uncertainty and play life safe. How about you? Made any giant choices lately? How do they feel?

Tags: exercise, hunting, life lessons, making the right judgements, risks and rewards, taking chances

365 Continuous Days Of Exercise

Nov 10

Posted by ira in exercise, LIFE LESSONS | No Comments

On November 20, 2011, I wrote that I had exercised nine days in a row and wondered how many more continuous days I could keep on exercising. This was a difficult challenge, because my whole life I have been totally undisciplined, when it comes to even five or 10 minutes of exercise any one day. I can pass on foods not healthy for me, I can save money, I can return phone calls…but I can’t make myself do some push ups or crunches.

But I changed. Somehow. I wish I knew what made me able to do it.

This week a friend told me that I have become “a fanatic” about this daily exercising. It was said as criticism, not as admiration. Yet just now, at 11:30 pm, after dinner and two hours of tough tennis this morning, after almost three hours of business and conference calls on a Saturday, I completed my 365th day of continuous exercise. I didn’t miss one day the whole year. Although I just noticed that 2012 was a Leap Year, so there is one more day to go this particular year.

So how does it feel? I certainly don’t feel crazy. I have certainly been proud to report my progress and describe what a huge accomplishment this is for a guy who was only able to dream about such discipline for at least…55 years? Since I was a teenager and wanted to have a better build. Other guys could lift weights and bulk up. No interest. Other guys went to the gym 2-4 times a week for decades. Not me. I stopped that after 2 1/2 years. But somehow frequent tennis playing and just 5-15 minutes a day of exercise have proven satisfying enough and felt good enough to keep at it.

Many of the days I procrastinate for hours before my little exercise sessions. I delay dinner, or I wait for hours after dinner. I have even risen from bed after midnight, when I realized I had forgotten to do some crunches or push ups, lift some weights, do planks or quad lifts. But I am doing them.

Every single day. I did it. I am doing it. I am a different person. How did I get to this place? Maybe I will figure it out and let you know. I am proud. Surprised. Confident. Amazed that it is now a part of my everyday life. It is who I am. I feel special…not just compared to others who don’t do this, but compared to earlier versions of me. I am smiling. This is a fun journey. Where am I going? I will let you know…

Tags: continuous daily exercise, discipline, exercise

Paul Ryan Stays Fit With P90X

Oct 12

Posted by ira in exercise, gym stuff | 2 Comments

Paul Ryan works out often

It’s 1:30 am, after the Vice-Presidential debate, and I have been procrastinating doing today’s exercises. So in reading the post-debate analyses, I bumped into this story about Paul Ryan’s interest in fitness and working out. Once I post this, I will do some of my own exercises…

When TIME named Paul Ryan a runner-up in the 2011 Person of the Year issue, many were familiar with his proposed budget, but few knew that the Wisconsin Congressman stayed fit with the now best-selling P90X workout plan.

Ryan says he keeps his body fat between 6 and 8 percent. At six-foot-two, the congressman says he weighs about 163 pounds and tries to get his heart rate to 165 during cardio. He says he wears a heart pulse monitor while working out. “I’m kind of a skinny guy,” he told Politico. Ryan held down three jobs right after graduating from Miami University in Ohio in 1992, one of which was as a personal trainer. Ryan’s father died of a heart attack when Ryan was sixteen, one reason, for Ryan’s dedication to fitness.

Tony Horton, the stand-up comedian turned P90X creator, says the rigorous workout has been boosted from both sides of the aisle. “I think Paul Ryan’s been very good for P90X, as much or more so as Michelle Obama,” he says. “I’ve worked with the First Lady and her Let’s Move campaign. Some of the Secret Service came up to me and said, ‘Hey man, we’re really loving the P90X.’ I’m well aware that they’re using it in the White House.”

According to Horton, you don’t need a lot of equipment to get fit. Ryan likes to use weights, but they aren’t a necessity. “You need the human body, Mother Earth and Sir Isaac Newton’s law of gravity,” Horton says.

TIME asked Horton to suggest a get-fit regimen that could be implemented alongside the presidential campaign but still leave time for careful consideration of the issues. He recommended an upper-body exercise, a cardiovascular interval exercise, a core exercise and a leg exercise.

Confusing the electorate is unwise, but according to Horton, confusing the muscles is a plus. This involves changing the routine often so muscles don’t get accustomed to any one exercise. To get the full benefit of this regimen, you’ve got to make like the party and diversify. “Do a different push-up every time,” suggests Horton. “Add kenpo karate or jumping jacks or whatever on that second move. On the crunches, modify your position to engage the abs or core directly. You can do squats with your feet wide, your feet narrow. It’s a workout that might also give you a bounce. As few as two rounds of that will release norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin.”

Perfect for when the poll numbers aren’t going your way.

Tags: exercise, gym stuff, P90X, Paul Ryan, Tony Horton

Jerry Seinfeld’s Success Formula Applied To Exercising

Oct 9

Posted by ira in exercise, LIFE LESSONS | No Comments

Jerry gives good advice

A reddit member posted a link to an article about comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s secret to writing. But the author says it can be applied to anything, and he has used it for himself in many areas. It will even work in getting people to exercise with some regularity, and I will vouch for the concept. It’s what happened to me in terms of transforming myself from a dreamer who avoided the gym and couldn’t force myself to do even five minutes of exercise a day into a guy who now hasn’t missed a day of exercise in 11 months. An astonishing achievement for someone as undisciplined as I am—or used to be—when it comes to making myself stretch, push or lift. So here are some excerpts:

He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.

He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. “After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.”

“Don’t break the chain,” he said again for emphasis.

Over the years I’ve used his technique in many different areas. I’ve used it for exercise, to learn programming, to learn network administration, to build successful websites and build successful businesses.

It works because it isn’t the one-shot pushes that get us where we want to go, it is the consistent daily action that builds extraordinary outcomes. You may have heard “inch by inch anything’s a cinch.” Inch by inch does work if you can move an inch every day…

Skipping one day makes it easier to skip the next.

This reminds me of a friend who drank and drugged for years, then joined Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and has now gone almost 20 years without a drop of booze or dope or coke. He always says that it’s impossible to “just have one little drink” and then go back to abstinence. So he never “skips a day” of sticking to his routine. I feel the same way about my exercise chain. So I make myself do it to keep the chain going.

Tags: discipline, exercise, how to keep exercising, how to motivate yourself to exercise, Jerry Seinfeld, life lessons

Sari Keeps On Changing

Oct 8

Posted by ira in cycling, exercise, OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, weight loss/overweight | No Comments

Sari Max is a new person

Sari Max is just melting away, and it’s having a huge effect. She wrote earlier in March about how she’d lost over 60 pounds. Now she has dropped another 15! And she has brought fitness and athletics into her life. She is biking for the first time in maybe 15 years, kayaking, which she hadn’t done in at least 20 years, and sometimes adding running spurts to her fast walking.

Sari with son Ben

She is a changed woman, with her new hair style and a bit of color. “I am full of vigor, she tells me proudly.”

I know it takes a lot of discipline to exercise when you haven’t been. But Sari is even doing floor exercises at home, including push ups and 25 sit ups at a time. Way to go, Sari!

Tags: cycling, exercise, new energy from weight loss, other people's stories, Sari Max, weight loss

Back At The Gym For A Tension-Relieving Workout

Oct 5

Posted by ira in exercise, gym stuff, health, LIFE LESSONS | No Comments

After 14 months of avoiding the place, I finally made it to the gym. It was a minimal workout, just 30 minutes, but it really felt great to be pumping up. But knowing I was going to be near the gym after a friend’s afternoon lecture, I thought the gym visit would be easy.

In fact it was absolutely necessary. At the lecture, I saw an acquaintance who told me his wife had died just three months after learning she had cancer. They had been together almost 30 years, had both recently retired and were planning “a decade or two of travel and relaxation.” I was so stunned I could barely stand up. I became a bit dizzy and thought I was going to fall down, that my legs wouldn’t support me.

So I raced to the gym to burn off my fear, anger, tension, adrenalin, whatever. It was a welcome relief from a horribly upsetting encounter. I feel so bad for this man who is struggling with his new and unexpected circumstances. And for his deceased wife, who had almost no time to prepare. I didn’t ask any questions about lifestyles and health habits. It just reminded me yet again how fragile and unpredictable our health and living is. It’s a constant gift that needs to be appreciated, treasured and cared for…

Tags: appreciating good health, exercise, fragility of life, gym stuff, health, life lessons, taking care of yourself

Daily Exercise At 96

Oct 3

Posted by ira in aging, exercise | No Comments

A friend’s mother died recently at age 96, so I read her obituary in the local paper. In her 20′s she was a club tennis champion, and she played golf as well. Had a hole-in-one. But what really impressed me was that “she exercised watching Jack LaLanne from 1951 until he went off the air and worked out every day until several days before she died.”

Wow! She’s 96 and still exercising every day. I can’t wait to find out what she was doing. She sure must have been healthy and fit to be doing anything physical at 96. Maybe it shows the value of being active and fit. We can all learn from her…

Tags: aging, daily exercise, exercise, fitness, Jack LaLanne

TV Anchor Jennifer Livingston’s Obesity Creates Ruckus

Oct 2

Posted by ira in diet, exercise, weight loss/overweight | No Comments

Here is a story about a woman who works out 2-3 times a week, runs in triathlons and 5k races, and is still overweight, called fat, and measures as obese. Her husband said it’s due to a thyroid condition.

But Jennifer Livingston is also a TV morning show news anchor who received a letter criticizing her as a poor role model for the community. She fought back by reading the letter on air and damning the writer’s insensitive bullying. Her actions went viral and national, so here is an ABC segment in which she is quoted and interviewed.

One person who commented on line and defended the letter writer had this to say: “…don’t hide behind bullying, this man is not bullying you, he is just asking you to do something about your excess weight. GIVE UP A FEW BURGERS AND CUT THE CHEESE. START MOVING JENNIFER!”

Oh how confusing life is. How it looks so different to people watching from various angles. I have to admit that I believe one can lose weight by eating less. Exercise can help burn off calories as well. But that doesn’t mean the exercise doesn’t also increase your appetite, and that for some people it’s seemingly impossible to not have the cheese and to skip the dessert. What do you think?

Tags: diet, exercise, Jennifer Livingston, overweight, TV anchor fights back being called obese

325 Continuous Days Of Exercise

Oct 1

Posted by ira in diet, exercise, health | 4 Comments

When I do my 10 minutes of exercise tonight, it will be the 325th day in a row. I am already wondering if I will stop at 365, go for 400, or do it forever? After an evening of tennis, when I was working too actively to exercise before the games, I come home and relax for an hour or two, before I can make myself exercise. Then I eat after 11 pm or so. Not healthy. But I played/practiced tennis six out of seven days from September 18-24. I was tired. Cramming in exercise was NOT easy. Yet I did it.

I have proven to myself and anyone who knows about this challenge that I can be disciplined enough to exercise daily no matter where I am in the world, no matter what the day’s events and demands. At this point, it’s still a source of pride that I made it this far, but it’s also a simple fact. It was the new me before. It’s who I have become at present.

Now my daughter came home for the weekend and brought creamy cheeses like brie and St. Andre. I ate those high-cholesterol bites with great pleasure. Then she made some chocolate sauce with much butter and maple syrup. I ate it on one spoonful of ice cream with extraordinary delight. She is a bad bad influence. I think it would be hopeless to avoid those unhealthy, fattening foods (for me) if she lived here. My secret is to not have the food in the house.

I did see a friend in Manhattan last week who has lost 15 pounds and is walking each day with Heavy Hands. He looks great, is walking more briskly and his posture has improved. He gives my fitness efforts some credit for reminding him to lose weight. His girl friend sees some tone in his arms, and he is feeling better…we all do it whenever we do…if we ever do.

At a dinner party recently with people in their 50′s and 60′s, there was lots of talk about limbs that didn’t work, backs that had been operated on, illnesses that were affecting life styles. I know lots of good health is dumb luck, some genetic proteins that work better, and being blessed by circumstances (like clean water and anti-biotics). While I can play and move, I will. I just won’t brag about it to anyone over 50. Too antagonistic…though it shouldn’t be. I’d rather be an inspiration than a source of depression and resentment. Oh well.

Tags: avoiding cholestreol, diet, discipline, exercise, health, jealousy from others

Obvious Secrets For Living Longer With Minimal Illness

Sep 9

Posted by ira in aging, diet, exercise, health | No Comments

Here’s another Gretchen Reynolds article about the benefits of fitness into old age. The comments are good and predictable too…over 200 of them with first-hand advice. Of course the real goal is to not just live longer, but to delay or minimize infirmity in old age. Middle age fitness helps you do that. Below are some excerpts.

A new study suggests that being or becoming fit in middle age, even if you haven’t previously bothered with exercise, appears to reshape the landscape of aging.

Those adults who had been the least fit at the time of their middle-age checkup also were the most likely to have developed any of eight serious or chronic conditions early in the aging process. These include heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and colon or lung cancer.

The adults who’d been the most fit in their 40s and 50s often developed many of the same conditions, but notably their maladies appeared significantly later in life than for the less fit. Typically, the most aerobically fit people lived with chronic illnesses in the final five years of their lives, instead of the final 10, 15 or even 20 years.

Being physically fit “compresses the time” that someone is likely to spend being debilitated during old age, leaving the earlier post-retirement years free of serious illness and, at least potentially, imbued with a finer quality of life.

Interestingly, the effects of fitness in this study statistically were greater in terms of delaying illness than in prolonging life. While those in the fittest group did tend to live longer than the least fit, perhaps more important was the fact that they were even more likely to live well during more of their older years.

Two Comments:

* ellen
* L.A., CA

This time of life offers so much. If you’re lucky enough to be retired it’s certainly easier. However, having said that, when I turned 50 I made a deal with myself that I would exercise every day. I got to say how much, though. Some days it was 5 minutes, some days an hour. Little by little I got to feel so much better that now I do pilates (at home) for about a half hour and then I walk for about 45 minutes. I eat the paleo diet and, at 63, I can tell you I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been in my life. I have more energy. I have no aches and pains. I kayak and dance, and do art. I’m very lucky to be living this life. I’m also very devoted to making the most of it. Oh yes, I take NO MEDS. I’m hoping to live and long and healthy life. But more than hope, I’m working for it. My body is there for me every day. The least I can do is give it a hand. Start small and trust that it will build. You get to like it after a while, Honest. It’s become so much a part of my life now that on a day I might no get to do my walk, say, I miss it terribly.

* RS Close
* Ventura County, CA

Just the realization that living longer is not the goal, but living better is what happens to someone who exercises should be enough evidence to encourage people to move their bodies. I have been taking workout classes for years. Now, I am 71. I do spinning classes 4X week, at least walk or hike on each of the other days…..I am NEVER sick….I do not take medications…I do take vitamins and supplements…..I have all of my original body parts and best of all….my friends are much younger and lots of fun….people my own age are all falling apart. I also eat a very healthy, almost all organic diet and cook most nights…nothing elaborate, but careful planning…it takes focus but it is well worth the results. Hope more people pay attention to the important findings in the article!

Tags: aging, benefits of fitness, delaying illness, diet, exercise, Gretchen Reynolds, health, middle-age fitness for healthier older age

We See This Guy On TV Alot

Aug 21

Posted by ira in abs pictures, aging, diet, gym stuff, photos of celebrities, weight loss/overweight | 2 Comments

do you recognize him?

He’s got a pretty good set of abs and body in general…right? But there is something very unusual about him. His name is Jeff Life, and he is a 72-year-old doctor. See him working out below, something he does at least six times a week in the gym.

In an LA Times article , it says his regimen includes hard cardio, heavy weights pushed to the max, martial arts, Pilates, a strict low-glycemic carb diet and lots of supplements. It has also, for the last seven years, been hormonally enhanced by a program that includes testosterone and human growth hormone—a therapy Life views as entirely appropriate, even necessary despite the medical evidence questioning both its effectiveness and safety…

Like most people, Life didn’t give a thought to his testosterone level, his HGH or his fitness as he built his career as a family practice doctor in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. A lapsed Masters swimmer who became inactive in his mid 40s, the father of five became fat and borderline diabetic—”a typical stressed-out middle-aged doctor who ate, drank and didn’t practice what he preached. It was years and years of sloth.”

Dr. Jeff Life–2010

That changed the day Life, then 60, picked up Muscle Media magazine and read about “the Challenge,” a 12-week, before-and-after fitness contest. His competitive fires lighted, Life sent in his before photo and hit the gym.

Three months later, he’d dropped 25 pounds, cut his body fat from 28% to 10%, got genuinely ripped and was named one of the contest’s 1999 “Body for Life” 10 grand champions…

But by age 64, Life found himself shrinking.

His muscles didn’t respond to workouts like they did a few years before. Abdominal fat started piling up. He began feeling mildly depressed. And he wasn’t waking with an erection as often as he used to.

It was a condition he would soon know as andropause, the insidious creep of declining testosterone.

It was time for his second epiphany—and the photo that would change everything…

the whole Dr. Jeffrey Life

Dr. Jeff's ad for the company he works with

In June 2003, Life became a Cenegenics patient, ultimately taking daily shots of HGH along with once-a-week testosterone shots, a regimen he still maintains.

“I could feel the difference quickly. Clarity of thought, a new, sharper focus, increased sexual function, bigger muscles.” He was so impressed that he packed up, moved to Las Vegas and joined the company.

After six months of seeing clients, Life had an idea to keep them motivated: Show them his body.

“They needed to know that I walked the walk.”

That might have been the end of the story—until a year later, when a writer from GQ magazine, in to do an anti-aging story, walked by Life’s office. His eyes bugged out at the sight of the glossy 8 by 11 of the buffed, bald, jeans-wearing guy hanging on the wall.

The shot ended up in his article in the January 2006 issue of GQ….Now it’s been seen by millions. An old, bald head on the young beefcake body. The claim is that this is not digitally modified. Whats your reaction?

Tags: abs pictures, aging, Cenegenics, diet, Dr. Jeffrey Life, exercise, gym stuff, how to gain muscle, LA Times, using drugs to look younger, weight loss

Hospital Athletes

Aug 20

Posted by ira in exercise, health | No Comments

During multiple visits to the hospital recently to see a friend, I am impressed at all the activity on the floor by post-operative patients who want to hasten their recovery. The main exercise is walking around the floor. I am guessing that the doctors and nurses are really urging their charges to get out of bed and chair, but it seems to me the patients like the change of pace as well.

Most of the time the walker is hooked up to liquids in see-through bags and monitoring machines that are hanging from a sort of hat rack on wheels. It’s a 6-foot-high intravenous (IV) pole with five wheels on the bottom and sometimes a circle of steel near the middle for hand support and pushing. There are often friends and family members walking along too for conversation and moral support. At some stage, the walker lets a companion do the pushing, so he can walk faster, when he doesn’t need to hold on to anything.

There is no rule about the direction you have to walk, so you are constantly smiling at others perambulating opposite to you. And the demographic mix is quite varied…young and old, men and women, all in partially covering hospital gowns. But the guests are more distinctive, for I saw Orthodox Jews with skull caps and wigs, Indians in saris, Upper East Siders in designer clothes and fancy jewelry, as well as the overheated guys in shorts and polo shirts. I loved the Middle Eastern patient whose arm and back were completely covered with elaborate tattoos.

Now how fast you go is really a challenge. My friend could only go a few steps, a helping hand under his arm, and balancing with the pole the second day. He often needed to pause for a breath and that day turned around and headed “home” to his room after a total distance equal to just one fourth of the circuit. By Day 3, he was doing two laps, four the next day, and two of those without him pushing the pole. I was advised not to pressure him to go for a mile real soon, because that was 13 laps at the hospital I visited.

On my third visit in a week, he was doing five non-stop laps at a time, 15 total laps for the day, and was walking so fast that it seemed there was a wind generated by the speed that whisked papers off the nurse station desks. The pole-pushing person walking with our group of four had to practically run to keep up. She said she felt like the last body on the outside end of some ice skaters turning a corner and whipping her around. I thought my friend was like a race horse who’d been cooped up in a stall (his bed and room) who was just let out for a walk, but geared up immediately for a gallop.

Whether “jogging” without assistance or using a walker or cane, each patient is trying to improve muscle tone and mobility as quickly as possible. Their courage and determination to overcome their weakness and pain are laudable and an athletic challenge I never appreciated before focusing on this site.

Tags: admiring the physical achievements of hospital patients, athletic challenges in hospitals, exercise, health, physical activity in hospitals, regaining muscle tone by walking, walking around the hospital floor

How Some Seniors Stay Fit

Aug 5

Posted by ira in aging, exercise, pole vaulting, push ups | No Comments

My friend Russ sent me some video links to older guys in action. Here is one of a 60-year-old man who does 700 push ups and 10 sets of pull ups and dips five days a week. Now that’s what I call discipline! My doing 100 a day twice a week just doesn’t cut it. I’m inspired…but I thought you should rest muscle groups a day to help them bulk out?

Here is another video of a 90-year-old who is still pole vaulting. Dr. William Bell holds the world record in his age group and jumps three times a week.

This Kodenkan Danzan Ryu Jujitsu master throws his student around with such ease. I think in some of the martial arts, the older practitioners seem very fit and effective.

Tags: aging, Dr. William Bell, exercise, fit seniors, jujitsu, pole vaulting, push ups, seniors in action

Many Rambos In The Olympics

Aug 1

Posted by ira in exercise, sports | No Comments

I am spending so much time admiring the olympians that I’m not writing. Along with the joy of watching such high quality talent, and the sadness of watching the stumbles, thrown riders, crashing dismounts, and stupid rules, I am awed by how these athletes ignore pain. Or overcame injuries and obstacles to reach this critical contest.

It reminds me of one of the lines in a Rambo movie, maybe by the colonel who trained him and boasts that Rambo ignores pain to achieve his mission. Or doesn’t even feel the pain. He can survive under all conditions of cold, heat, bleeding wounds, hunger, etc etc etc.

Some of the olympians compete with broken toes in gymnastics, a history of bake sales to raise money, daily commuting for hours to get to a gym, leaving their families for years, missing a normal childhood (or adult life) of course. But also years of leg breaks and illness, years of being told they can’t do it and should quit, years of determination, deprivation and conviction that overcome pain, separation from family, years of strain to excel, become stronger, learn a particular move or motion.

It is just astounding and astonishing. Some times they are children who have been practicing gymnastics since they were three or five. Sometimes it is a 60- or 70-year-old (the oldest is 71) who competes because s(he) can. I love it and can’t see too much of it.

I am still fitting in tennis three or four times a week, living much of the rest of my personal and business and family life. But I am totally inspired, have now done some exercise as well for 263 consecutive days (last night it was push ups at 1 am after a dinner out with friends). I am happy to also report that either the glucosamine (which doesn’t always work for people), the quad exercises, or just my body healing naturally over time have minimized the stiffness and discomfort in my left leg and knee. Of course I would have ignored it totally after hearing the stories of the olympians…but I didn’t, and it improved.

Tags: exercise, how to become a champion, ignoring injury, olympians, overcoming pain, Rambo

Hiroshi Hoketsu Is A Better Olympic Horseback Rider At 70 than At 40

Jul 30

Posted by ira in aging, exercise, horseback riding | No Comments

Hiroshi Hoketsu, age 71, is this Olympics' oldest competitor

The female gymnasts are often children, just 15 or 16 years old. But here is a story by Martin Rogers about the oldest competitor in this year’s Olympics, a Japanese equestrian who is 71. Most impressive is that he says “I am a better rider at 70 than I was at 40.”

The oldest competitor at the 2012 Olympic Games has revealed the extraordinary sacrifices he has made in order to remain a medal contender well past retirement age.

Hiroshi Hoketsu, who will represent Japan in the equestrian discipline of dressage at the age of 71, told Yahoo! Sports how chasing a slice of history and becoming the oldest Olympian in the last 92 years is the result of a fanatical commitment to the sport.

“I have not seen my wife, Motoko, for more than a year,” said Hoketsu, who lives and trains in the German town of Aachen in order to team up with his horse, Whisper, and his Dutch coach. “It is difficult to be away from home for this long as an old man and I owe everything to her patience and understanding.”

Hoketsu will take part in his third Olympics, 48 years after making his debut and finishing 40th as a show jumper on home soil at the 1964 Tokyo Games. Despite continuing to rise at 5 a.m. every day to ride horses, he quit competing and became a successful international businessman for pharmaceutical companies.

After hanging up his business suit and briefcase, Hoketsu still had the itch to compete and entered the world of competitive dressage at his wife’s insistence. At the time, neither predicted his comeback would result in qualification for the Beijing Games four years ago and now the London Games.

Hoketsu credits his performances to dedication and a bond with his mount that he describes as “magical.” He has become a star in his homeland and a poster boy for the elderly.

Although Hoketsu rises early every morning and attacks practice sessions with as much zeal as riders young enough to be his grandchildren, he confesses he does not adhere to the dietary regimen you might expect from an Olympic athlete.

“I eat what I want to eat and drink as much as I want to drink,” said Hoketsu through an interpreter. “People might expect that I am able to participate for so long because I have special habits. But my secret is to have a good life, enjoy yourself and do the things that make you happy.

“Having said that, I am out there riding horses every day for several hours. Then I come back in and do many exercises, to help with my strength, coordination, and, most importantly, my balance.”

Hoketsu is the oldest Olympian since Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn won bronze at the age of 72 at the 1920 Antwerp Games and would ride into the record books if he was able to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.

Such an outcome is unlikely, but don’t rule it out just yet.

“My wife would like for this to be my last year of competition and that will probably be the case,” Hoketsu said. “But I still feel my riding is improving, little by little. That is my motivation. I am a better rider at 70 than I was at 40. Most people can’t tell but my body is getting a little weaker. My horse knows it and she helps me.”

Tags: aging, Equestrian Olympics, exercise, Hiroshi Hoketsu, horseback riding, Martin Rogers, practice makes perfect, sacrifice to succeed

Problems In Taking Your Own Abs Photos

Jun 27

Posted by ira in aging, exercise, humorous stories, OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES | No Comments

Too funny. A friend is getting in shape partly by having a personal trainer visit his house twice a week. He has been to this site and complained to me that he has so much white hair on his chest that you can’t see his abs. In desperation he decided to slick down his fur with oil to make any possible cut lines visible. However he couldn’t find any baby oil or other greasy product to do the trick.

So off he went to the kitchen shelf to choose Mazzola cooking oil. Picture him smelling like a corn cob trying to take a photo in the mirror! He said no shots came out to his satisfaction, so we will have to use our imaginations. Aren’t some older folks innovative, creative and downright ridiculous??? Although what is really wrong with corn oil? Maybe it doesn’t go rancid, like olive oil…

Tags: aging, exercise, how to take photos of your abs, humorous stories

From Couch Potato To Ironman Entrant In Six Months

Jun 24

Posted by ira in cycling, exercise, running, swimming | No Comments

Guy Adami at work

Pretty impressive story about Guy Adami, a Wall Streeter and Fast Money panelist whose historic exercise routine “consisted mostly of walking from his parking space to the front door of the CNBC studios in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.” But friends challenged him to do the impossible, a trainer gives him advice, and there is a charity involved as well.

Guy completes his first triathalon in New Jersey—5/2012

In May he was able to run a triathalon that had legs one fifth or one tenth of an Ironman—a half mile swim instead of 2.4 miles, a 13 mile bike ride instead of a 112-mile ride, and a 3.2 mile run rather than a marathon of 26.2 miles. And he still has not reached any of these Ironman distances in training.

It’s all a work in progress. But his dedication is intense, he is approaching his goals each day. and the results will be determined on August 11th, when he joins 3000 others in New York’s first-ever Ironman. He has already lost 38 pounds (from 235) and six inches around his waist. You sure have to admire his effort…Can you believe that 140,000 people a year compete in an Ironman? Interesting that 20% of those who sign up miss race day due to an injury or fear the night before the race.

Tags: cycling, exercise, first triathalon, Guy Adami, Ironman in New York, running, swimming

225 Consecutive Days Of Exercise

Jun 23

Posted by ira in exercise, push ups | No Comments

The other day a friend said I was a very disciplined guy. I couldn’t relate to the compliment, because until I challenged myself to do SOME exercise—even just 5-10 minutes—EVERY day, I couldn’t do anything regularly, except maybe brush my teeth. But I have exercised 225 days in a row! I have struggled to keep this streak going, remembering after I was in bed and rising to the task, not doing the drills until 1 or 2 am, when I arrived home from a night out, gutting push ups or crunches on a full stomach that I thought wouldn’t hold the food down. I am finally tired of this late night pressure, often after a few hours of tennis.

I feel like a student actor who just wants a bit part as an extra in a movie. Then he gets that and wants a speaking role…next a credit…then a starring role. Finally he wants to direct, produce, form a production company.

Now that I have done something for more than seven months, I am announcing a new challenge, which I know won’t impress you, but seems very difficult to me: I have to do my exercises AFTER breakfast and before lunch. Or after lunch and BEFORE dinner. Somehow. And I often eat breakfast around noon or lunch around 4:00, because I am busy with work or other commitments and chores.

This limited exercise program, in addition to the sports activity, is not leading to giant muscles or increased numbers of push ups. But I do have some cut lines on my abs and arms. So it’s something. Now let’s see if I can exercise at more convenient times…

Tags: disciplinary challenges, discipline, exercise, regular exercise

Hardest Push Up In The World

Jun 20