Lifting weights is smart.

I'm watching the sun come up as I write which is one of my favorite things to do.  The start of a new day.  Where will your day take you?  Mine is taking me to the gym as soon as I finish writing this, downing my coffee and eating my Perfect Bar.

I want all of you woman and men who are nearing 50 and don't work out to lift.  It doesn't matter if you've never lifted a lb. in your life before.  Start lifting today.  We are all going in the same direction and we are all going to lose muscle mass so we all need to "use it or lose it."

The last year has been a challenge for my lifting but I have not stop.  My ankle injury is still present, it is a split tendon and it's not healing so there will be a needed surgery when I have the time for some major downtime recovery, yuck.  The idea of not going to the gym freaks me out.  It's not the actual gym that I'll miss, but whats in the gym.  I love lifting, I love challenging myself and I love being strong.

Just because you are aging does not mean that you can't lift.  What it does mean is that you should be lifting.  All I can tell you is how I feel when I lift vs. don't.  Lifting gives you the ability to do things that you can't do when you don't lift.  Just imagine for a moment, a huge big crane is trying to lift some commercial beams up to high level floors of a building.  Unfortunately the crane is made of light gauge cord.  It can't lift the heavy beams without being damaged.  Right beside that flimsy crane is a big strong crane with strong cables that can do the job and do it easily.

I'm always trying to come up with an analogy that will hit a cord with those sitting on the fence about lifting.  You do not have to go to the gym to get strong, but you do have to lift.  A lot of people I talk to tell me that they walk!  Walking is great but it is just walking.  If you want to get strong you MUST lift.

Age is a number, that's it.  If you have never lifted before, start today.  Getting strong is a process.  You cannot grab a 50lb. dumbbell today and expect to do what the seasoned pros are doing. You have to start small and grow slowly if you want to do it wisely and without injury.  I often hand people weights that seem far too light in the beginning.  It is better to achieve success rather than fail in the beginning.  This helps to create a passion for more instead of suffering from the all too common "this is too hard and I can barely walk."

Well, I'm off to the gym.  Have a wonderful day.  Go lift.

Working out around injuries

Wow, it's been 8 months, where the heck has the time gone?  I've been very busy this year but my workouts have not stopped.  I wanted to blog today after skipping so long without a blog because I've learned so much in the last few months of working out.

First, I want to talk about age related stuff.  Oh ya it's just great getting older, lots more aches and pains.  Anyhow, about those aches.  I've been dealing with some joint pain and injury.  This has meant that I needed to tweak my workouts.  No, it does not mean that I had to stop, just work around the problem.

Working around an injury or weakness teaches you a great deal.  It has taught me how to focus when lifting and even though I already knew that form was important; it is now even more of a focus for me.  

I wish that everyone knew how important form and full range motion lifting is.  I watched a guy at the gym today and shuddered at his workout.  He was lifting weights that he could barely lift.  The range he had to stay in was the joint damage range.  There was no full range muscle usage which meant that he was setting himself up for a serious injury.  First because he isn't building any muscle by only moving within a 2" radius and second because he is solely relying on his joints to do the work.  No muscle = joint injury.  Whether you lift or not, you need muscle to protect your joints.

When I lift around an injury or weakness; I am very consciously avoiding the area and building the muscle around it.  I currently have an ankle injury, a split tendon to be specific.  I could have sat out of working out for a longtime for this one.  But that idea was not even an option.  So, I've had to do a lot of things very differently which has in fact been very educational.  

How do you do your legs without your ankle?  Hmmmmmmm. I'm wearing a full boot so that is protection there; and I am not doing any ankle bending movements.  I am not relying on my ankle for any help, which is very important.  It gets to sit out for a while.  I am doing straight legged movements and using my boot leg.  My focus is on everything around the injury, using each muscle that I can while avoiding the injured area.  It has required focus and a big learning curve.  

No more blindly pumping iron, everything is done with methodical precision.  Working out as you get older is harder, I'm not going to lie.  But not working out makes the day to day so much more difficult.  

My son gave me a piece of advise almost two years ago that changed the way I worked out from that moment.  I have called upon that advise with my current injury.  I was attempting to do full pull-ups, very difficult for any woman.  I could feel the strain in my poor elbows as I struggled, when he said to me "Mom, engage your lats (latissimus dorsi)."  Those four words changed it all.  Stop putting so much strain on the joints and use all the muscles to lift.  It made a huge difference.

Now when I am doing my leg curls, assisted pull-up leg squats or seated leg press; my quads and hamstrings are doing the heavy lifting.  This results in them getting stronger to protect my joints even more. 

A new year, a new diet.

A new year has begun again and with January's arrival comes the "diet" word in many households.  I hate the term "diet" because it is misused all the time.  Diet is what you eat; it does not mean a weight loss diet.  

The gym is also filled with all those who are turning over a new leaf in their life.  There will be people who make it and those who do not; the ones who will start over again next January.  But why do so many people fail?  Many fail because they move too far away from their comfort zone.  Success is often achieved with baby steps. 

If you have a diet filled with processed food, sugar and carbs; then switching over to a diet void of carbs, processed food and sugar will make it nearly impossible.  Making a big diet change can be tough when your body is use to one thing for such a long time and then try to remove it completely.  The mind is a crazy thing and it can sometimes be the obstacle in the way of success.

Getting your head to agree with the new diet can take some time and discussion.  First you have to stop thinking that you are being deprived.  Next, there is no secret pill.  You may need to lose weight or you might just want to eat a better and more nutritional diet.  Whatever your reason for diet change; you need to let your head know what is going on and why.  

You only have one body in this life of yours; why not fuel it to the best of your ability?  When we eat food; it goes through a huge process before leaving again.  If there is no real nutritional value in what we eat then it is not helping to fuel our body at all.  In fact it may be causing damage on it's way through.  

Eating healthy food and loving it takes a new way of thinking.  If your current diet is a junk food base then you will need to teach yourself about the joys of healthy food.  Eating should not be just to quench hunger; we should eat to fuel our body to best it can be.  That means going back to simple and unprocessed.  You can change your palate but it definitely takes time and mind games.  

Yes, I eat things that are not considered healthy; everyone has a weakness or two.  I allow myself to eat indulgent foods, but in moderation.  Often the idea of not being allowed to eat things makes us want them more.  We feel deprived and cannot continue on the new healthy way of eating because of deprivation. 

Eating healthy is a good thing.  Learning to love healthy food is a process.  If your diet has gone down the processed path then you need to step off the road you are on.  You need to sit down and have a talk with yourself.  When you eat a diet filled with nutritional food; you are giving your food that it needs, foods it can use.  You will feel amazing; but it will not happen overnight.  Change is a process, take the first baby step today and the next when you are ready.  Take care of that body, you only have one.     

Body building???

Hell yes, I do.  

I was at the Doctors the other day when she asked me what I do as far as exercise.  I told her that I walk, run and lift.  She immediately asked if I was a bodybuilder.  I paused and pondered... "no" I said, I just lift weights.  So on the way home I thought about her question.  When she asked if I was a body builder, I instantly thought of those steroid man looking women; so of course my answer was no.  But once I started to think about it I thought that perhaps I am. 

Knowing that our bodies lose muscle mass as we age; I am most definitely building my body so that I don't suffer from the effects quite as drastically.  Yes I am a body builder is what my answer should have been; but I also don't want people thinking that I am in the gym to look like those man/women.

Why do I care?  Because I'm not in the gym for a fashion statement; although my daughter has me decked out pretty snazzy via Reebok.  I am not there to get huge muscles nor there to compete with or look like a man.  I am at the gym to stay strong and try to reverse the effects of aging.  At 53 and a recent Grandma of 2 gorgeous little men; I am proud to say that Grandma lifts.  If you don't work your muscles to keep them strong and flexible then you will lose them and end up being a feeble old person at the an age that you should not be feeble.  I have met many people younger than myself who are feeble.  I have met people who think that dieting, losing weight and being skinny is what it's all about.  But asked to do something strenuous and they fail drastically.  

Just imagine how much harder it is to do anything when you have little to no muscle?  Your muscles ache when asked to do even the smallest of movements and your joints suffer under the pressure with no muscle to protect them.  It happens to all of us and you can either shrug your shoulders and say "I can't."  Or you can say "hell yes I can," and get moving.  Starting with very small weights and low repetitions, anyone who is not seriously ill can start to lift.  

So, the other day at the Doctors, I should have replied yes; when asked if I was a bodybuilder.  But the whole image of what many think of lifting weights got in the way.  

Back and back at it.

Back and back at it.  I've been away on vacation and actually took a whole week off of working out.  The first couple of days of our vacation were spent at a hotel so we were able to get a couple of quick weight room workouts in.  But from Saturday to Friday we basically rested.  It's a head thing at this point; I have to literally tell myself that we are resting and it's okay.  When you work out consistently hard you need to rest your body; but that can be easier said than done.  :)

So with a week off we are back home.  Our travel day back was horrible and turned into almost 24 hours when it should have been around 7.  With that behind us we hit the gym yesterday.  Another day off was not in the cards; I needed that just worked out feeling. 

On our vacation we were able to get a few physical activities in.  One was bike riding and it brought back loads of great memories.  I haven't been bike riding in years and years and it felt great.  Riding through the forest, pumping my legs and getting a cardio workout in was a great in-between activity.  I enjoyed it so much that I have decided to get a bike.  

We also got a big walk/jog in through the woods that felt wonderful.  When you are accustom to working out and the feel that working out gives you, moving feels great.  I even got to try out a quick paddle board but due to windy conditions, didn't get on it again.  But I loved it and it will be an activity that I continue as well.  

Taking a rest from intense working out does not mean that you have to stop moving.  I find it hard not to do something physical every day.  The fact is that working out makes moving easier and more enjoyable.  

Hitting the gym yesterday, even when still exhausted from our trip felt great.  That just worked out filling helps to get you going and shakes the sluggish feeling that traveling can leave you with.  It was great to be back in the gym; especially having rested a week.  Exercise is a life style and when it has been solidified there, it will do you good.  Moving does a body good.  

Blasting leg day

Yesterday was leg day.  When I got to the gym I wasn't really feeling it.  You know those days you hit the gym and sort of just do what you have to and then leave?  Well, it started out like that but very quickly turned into "blast the legs" day.  Being that I wasn't feeling it, I worked on my mojo.  I sat on the leg press machine where I start out light and worked up; which is my typically leg warm up.  

I start with 50 lbs and do two sets of 15.  I then move up two plates at a time doing two sets of 12 reps until I get to my highest weight, which is 210.  I could go higher but I don't want to blow out my knees; something definitely worth considering.  I see people on the leg press rack doing insanely heavy weight but if their knee goes, it's really going to go; as in across the gym type of explosion.  So building muscle is good but blowing out joints, not so much.  

After my leg press work I was pumped.  With my power mode back in place I decided to blast my legs.  Legs are strong, far stronger than most people think.  I know that I have a hard time working them out to feel any pain the next day.  Yes they will be wobbly when I really blast them but it's tough to get that next day burn for me.  My legs are the strongest thing on me for sure.

Leg workout 

- My leg press work
- leg extension, start at 50lb and work up to 110lb
- leg curls, start at 30lb and work up to 70
- squats, 4 sets of 15 with a 40 lb bar
- dead lifts 3 sets of 8 with 40 lb bar
- glute press, 3 sets each leg 70lb

Then I worked my abs, bigtime.  

So I blasted and it felt amazing.  Having strong legs is so important, especially the older you get.  Muscle mass helps with balance.  Having strong legs just makes sense; strong legs help you get around really easily.  Stretching and working on balance are also very important.  Doing these three things:  building muscle, stretching and balance work will have you skipping and skittly skatting you through your day to day.  When is your leg day?

Get off

Are you one of those people who step on the scale every day anxiously awaiting the news?  So what does it say?  Are you going to have a bad day or good day?  It all depends on what the scale says right?  You'll either feel good about yourself or bad.  Feeling bad about YOU is bad.  What if you think you look pretty good?  You've been working out like crazy, eating great... you're pumped.  You're pumped until you step onto the evil scale.  Instantly you are sent spiraling down and out.  You look in the mirror and see a fatty.  You thought you looked good, now you don't, now you hate yourself.   Hmmmmm. 

 I don't weigh myself, I just don't.  Recently I was at the Doctors where I knew that I'd have to get on the scale.  I did some soul searching and wondered whether it was worth the fight with the nurse to try to avoid the scale.  I decided against the fight.  Instead I told myself that I wasn't going to care what it said, and I don't.  

We are far more than a number; we should not be measured by a number.  If you want to know, then by all means step up and find out.  I prefer to set my goals by photos of myself  (few that there are) and go from there.  That or I put my jeans on and they tell me what's going on.  Just the other day I put a pair of jean shorts on and could not believe how differently they were fitting me.  They were quite lose but the biggest difference was the fit.  Looser where the fat had left and tighter where my muscles have grown.

Everyone is so concerned with being skinny; losing weight to feel good about themselves.  If you don't like what you see in the mirror, change it.   Don't decide whether or not you are happy by what a stupid scale says.  Do you feel good?  Are you fit and healthy?  That should be your goal, not a number on a scale.  The number you are given from the evil scale has nothing to do with your diet or your exercise.  It simply tells you what you are weighing in at.  You could actually be a very skinny, out of shape and unhealthy lightweight on the scale.  Ever think about that?

Stepping on a scale is a personal decision.  My choice is not to, I don't care what it says.  I care about how I feel and if I am happy when I look in the mirror.  If not then I have work to do.  :)