5 Simple Moves To Transform Your Body In 4 Weeks

I found these great exercises for us ladies fifty and over to build muscle and bone strength, and tone and tighten, from Barbara Hannah Grufferman's post Aging gracefully: transform your body with 5 simple moves. She also wrote The best of everything after 50.

Barbara says "Just as David Kirsch challenged me, here's my challenge to you: Do these five exercises every day for four weeks, then post a comment on this Aging gracefully article (or connect with me on Facebook) describing your experience. I know that, like me, you will see a major change in your body. And, even more importantly, you will be helping to keep osteoporosis away."

First, a few guidelines:

• Do these every day
• Do them as a circuit (move from one to the other, quickly)
• Have your sneakers on
• Use a yoga mat
• Remember to breathe

It's best if you do three sets (or more) with a 15 second "breather" in between each set. As you progress, trying adding more sets. This entire program will take less than 15 minutes to complete.

Here are the five exercises that will transform your body:

1 — Push-Up:

Nothing symbolizes fitness quite like the simple push-up. It tests your entire body by engaging every part of it -- arms, chest, abdomen, hips and legs.
Image via Wikipedia
Doing them is the easiest, fastest and most effective way to get fit. They are the gold standard. You may need to start with a modified push-up (on your knees), but eventually, you'll build up to the full push-up.

How to do a full push-up: Make your entire body straight, like a plank, with your toes and the balls of your feet on the mat, and hands directly under your chest.

Using your arms, go down to the count of 4, and back up to the count of 4. Do 12-15 reps.

2 — Squat: This is one of David's favorite exercises for working the entire lower body, thighs, hips and butt. The movement is as if you are sitting in a chair.

How to do a squat: Stand with your feet under your hips, shoulder width apart.

Extend arms in front of you, for balance (or hold onto the back of a chair).

To the count of four, slowly bend your knees, with your chest and butt out, stopping once you are almost "sitting in a chair."

It's essential that you push your butt out as much as possible as you're going down, to keep the pressure off your knees. Do 15 reps.

3 — The plié squat:

This version of the squat focuses on the inner thighs, a problem area for many women, especially. 

How to do a plié Squat: Stand with feet wider than hip distance apart.

Turn toes out and heels in.

Slowly bring your body weight back onto your heels as you bend your knees out toward your toes, to the count of 4, and squat down while pushing your butt out.

For both squats, never tuck your tailbone in. That puts too much stress on knees.

4 — The plank: This is an incredibly hard, but Zen-like, position that is one of the most effective exercises you can do, because it works your entire body.

Image via Wikipedia How to do a Plank: Hold your body in a "plank" position, simulating the "up" part of a push-up, but stay there, holding perfectly still, for 30-60 seconds. 

Keep your abs tight and your back flat the entire time (see photo). 

Try to lengthen your whole body, reaching back through your heels and forward through the top of your head. Your heart will be pounding, your arms will be shaking, but try to make it to 60 seconds (or more). 

5 — The sit-up: Our abs are getting a good workout by doing the push-ups and the plank, but it's still smart to spend a little time doing an exercise just for them.

Strong abdominal muscles look good, but they will help maintain good posture and take a lot of the pressure off our backs as we age. David loves the good, old-fashioned sit-up the best.

How to do a Sit-Up: Lie completely flat on your back, hands behind your head, pull your belly button down into the floor, and using your abdominal muscles, pull yourself up, and then lower yourself down.

Exhale as you go up, and inhale going down. Keep your legs and feet flat on the floor, and see if you can do 20 in 60 seconds.

Start with one set every day, and then build up to three sets (or more) with a 15-second "breather" in between each set. Not only will you be strengthening your muscles, but you'll be getting a solid cardio workout, as well.

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7 Things to know about the Five Tibetans: Boosting Your Energy the Natural Way

I wrote a post earlier this week on how to Boost Your Energy with the Five Tibetans Rites and wish to clarify some points based on a comment from one reader. The 7 things you should know are:

1 - The Five Tibetans is a physical workout. And it is so for everyone and anyone whether they're a yoga teacher, an aerobics instructor or a work-at-home mom. It is intense even though the entire routine with all twenty-one repetitions takes fifteen minutes!

2 - These Tibetan movements vigorously and rigorously work the entire body and all organs. They also stimulate the body's energy centres - you may know them as chakras. The effects are felt immediately during and after the very first session.  


3 - The first movement will make you dizzy because it activates your energy centres. And the more toxic your body is, the more dizzy you will feel. Dizziness diminishes with practice as your body naturally starts to detox itself. Giving it some help to detox is a very good idea.

4 - It is not necessary to download the book itself. It was included to provide you with as much information as possible.

5 - The demonstration video with 73-year old Ellen Wood is meant to illustrate the right way of performing the Five Tibetans, and highlight the fact that anyone of any age could perform these movements.

However, it is not wise to follow her blindly or anyone else for that matter - including me - without informing yourself on what you are getting into. She is expert at performing these Rites and so am I.

6 - Therefore, if you have any physical disability, illness or pain and you are not sure if this ritual is for you or how it could affect your current situation, please read Mary Kurus' informative and insightful explanations to know what to expect and which alternative movements you should replace. And of course if in doubt, consult your medical practitioner.

7 - The alternative movements procure similar beneficial effects as the original Five Tibetans. They are detailed in Ms Kurus 's one-page document. This was the main reason for linking to her site.







PS.  The Five Tibetans should not be performed in the late evening if you are very sensitive energetically-speaking, and certainly no later than two hours before bedtime. Otherwise you will be like a jitterbug from all the energy and will be unable to sleep!




Here is one more site you should definitely check out: The information on boosting your energy the natural way with herbs, sea veggies -  delish! - tinctures, etc. are down-to-earth, practical, and very effective and obviously coming from someone who knows what she's talking about. I love that! Wise Woman's Ways of Boosting Your Energy.

Enjoy and Prosper!


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5 Healthy Habits to Live By: Suggestions to Change Your Life and Kick Old Habits

If you are looking for ways to kick your old, tired habits have a read of my suggestions on how you could change your life, develop healthy habits to live by and jumpstart your day. Yup, all in one shot.

1. Meditate (20 mins.)

When you wake in the morning and after you empty your bladder, get back into bed. Get comfy in whatever position that suits. Place one hand on your stomach and one on your chest, and feel the rise and fall of your breath. Become aware of your breath. Flow with it as it moves in and out of your body.

Feel your entire body come alive from your feet to the top of your head. Remain in this state for twenty minutes. On your "return", you will be clear-eyed and focussed and feel refreshed.

Ideas may come to you during or after your meditation. Write them down because they will slip away and act on them immediately.

2. Stretch (10 mins.)

(a)When you get out of bed, have a good stretch with your arms outstretched above your head. Do some side stretches with one arm sliding down to your calf and the other arm over your head, pointing in the same direction. You will be stiff at first. Do the best you can and stretch ten times on each side.

(b)Bend over and touch your toes or as far as you can reach without bending your knees.  Take a deep breath in and out as you bend over. It will relax your abdominal muscles which might get tight and painful, and help you to stretch further. Do this ten times.

(c)Try to stand on your toes and reach to the sky. Push one outstretched arm up with fingers reaching for the sky. Relax but don't lower your arm and reach high with the other arm. Continue this alternating movement establishing a nice up and down rythym. Do it ten times for each arm.

(d)This is a classic Ayurvedic (Indian) exercise to loosen up your hip joints and encourage flexibility in this area. Stand with your legs wide apart. If you are not comfortable and feel unbalanced, bring your legs closer together.

Forearms should be resting on your hips with palms facing the floor. Circle your hips clockwise as wide as you can for one minute. Do not move your feet. Then circle them counter-clockwise for another minute. If you can't do it for a full minute, that's okay. You will get there.

Stretching wakes up your body. and you might start yawning. That means you're evacuating stale energy.

3. Drink Water

Drink a glass of water first thing each and every morning. It flushes down the remaining food eaten the night before from your oesophagus (gullet) and encourages a bowel movement within an hour. This is very normal.

Note: If you do not urinate copiously in the morning after you get out of bed, you are dehydrated. If it smells strong, you are not drinking enough water. If it's brown, same problem. Drink at least three litres every day. It flushes toxins from your organs and rehydrates your body. Water is essential for the proper functioning of your colon.

Drink a large glass of water between meals and one hour after every meal. If you don't "go" every day and after every meal, you are constipated. If your child doesn't either, that child is constipated.

Emptying your bowel before eating breakfast is an excellent habit to cultivate. Your body needs the time to evacuate the waste that's already in there before starting a new digestion cycle. Your body will thank you for it by working more efficiently and excreting toxins more effectively.  

4. Break Your Fast

It is essential to have a morning meal. I never subscribed to breakfast after I left home but I have changed over the years. Now, I eat only when hungry.

I usually  break my fast between 10 and 11AM after exercise and meditation, with either two glasses of freshly made green protein juice, a natural seed protein drink, bananas, 2 weetabix with rice, almond or soy milk with a few drops of Stevia (a South American plant extract), or a bowl of sprouted, cooked lentils with pumpkin seed oil and a tisane, or rice cakes and nut butter etc.

The point is that breakfast could be anything as long as it is nutritious (protein) and devoid of artificial sweeteners. All sugar is chemically produced nowadays - the worst are the artificial sweeteners that Coca Cola and others say is not sugar because it's "light". The only thing light is the way soda manufacturers rip you off.

The fact is that sugar spikes your blood sugar levels then drops you down hard an hour later. That is why you binge on sweet stuff and guzzle light sodas - to keep the high. I know because I am a recovering sugar addict.

If you are not a breakfast person like me, and I still make sure I eat something in the morning, have a bowl of fresh fruit, a bunch of bananas or make a smoothie. Fresh fruits, green drinks or vegetable milk fruit smoothies are the way to go for breakfast.

And you get all your fibre, minerals and trace elements to boost your central nervous system. You could never overdose on fresh fruit but stay away from the acid ones like apples, pineapples etc. in the morning.

Breakfast is meant to be light and easy to digest (2 - 4 hours).  Smoothies are extremely nutritious, tasty and filling. Make enough to fill a thermos to take with you for a 10AM snack. It will carry you through until lunch time.

Use fruits in season for your smoothies and always add bananas to make them rich and filling, or take the bananas with you to snack on. Experiment and write down the combinations you like, and repeat.

Note: Cow's milk is toxic to humans and is meant for calves only. Use silk soy milk watered down if it's too rich or another vegetable milk, like almond milk, if you want a milky taste.

5. Oxygenate Your Body - Exercise

Start a daily exercise routine. You could do the usual run, treadmill, jump rope, DVD aerobics, one-hour walk, etc. or get yourself a one-person trampoline and do five minutes every morning before you shower.

Repeat in the evening. Because it's small, it stores easily. I keep mine open and leaning against the wall in the corridor.

These activities are part of everyday spirituality reconnecting you to who you really are inside. They make you feel energized, bright, awake and focussed. One added benefit is that your excess weight will start melting away, naturally and without effort. The lighter you feel, the more vigorous you will become.

I would love to hear what healthy habits you have made in your life, how you kicked your old habits, and what you think about my suggestions.

Additional suggestions for developing healthy habits…

• Zen Habits - An Evening Routine - taking it in another direction. Organize yourself the night before.
• Open Loops - 6 Ways to Jumpstart Your Day - includes useful suggestions for those of you who have a problem waking up and bash the alarm clock for ten minutes more! By the way, that usually a sign that you went to bed too late.
  
• Ten Ways to Jumpstart Your Day - a very well-written article with excellent suggestions and I do most of them.  Like expressing gratitude, visualisation, massaging your thymus (breastbone), etc.
• Docstoc - For those of you who feel up to it, here's a women's fitness page on DocStoc with excellent instructions, warmups, workouts and photos on How to jumpstart your day with exercise.
• Bellaonline - high fibre foods. Good, practical information.
• Living Community's How to live to 100 - I don't subscribe to getting at least 6 hours sleep or sticking to your habits or living like the 7th Day Adventist!  We don't have to be religious to practice a particular way of life!  Our bodies need at least 8 hours sleep. 6 hours would work for you if you normally wake feeling rested. If not... you will become sleep deprived and eventually become ill.
• Dr Oz and Roizen's RealAge - How to eat smart, what to look for and recipes galore. My favourite reference site. No BS just the truth about eating and food backed by solid facts. And How to adjust your waist brakes.
  

Enjoy;)


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How to Boost Your Energy, Clear Your Mind and Tone Your Body: Do The Five Tibetans Movements

So what do the Five Tibetans do and what are they? The Five Tibetans was first written in 1939 for us westerners and consists of five movements modified from a yoga practice by Tibetan monks centuries ago. They are each performed twenty-one times. The book can be downloaded free of charge.

The updated version which I purchased five years ago was written in 1985. Mary Kurus with the publisher's permission, provides detailed information and alternative movements based on this book to enable you to perform the movements correctly.

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Going Green Workouts and Food : Get Yourself in Gear

As I educate myself on going green, I figured I'd take you all along for the ride as well.

I've included some links below which include simple and easy ways to have green workouts: 1) use metal bottles instead of chucking the plastics every day, 2) use recycled gym mats, 3) go to a gym closer to home and walk there, 4) exchange/swap used equipment and lots more.

Then there's eating green to save our planet too. 1) How about going vegan? If that's too hard, 2) how about ordering less takeout, 3) compost uneaten food instead of putting it in the trash, 4) buy food in season and buy local?

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