fitness, strength, and wellness over 50
At 70 years of age, Joan MacDonald was overweight, badly out of shape, in pain, and on blood pressure medication. Her daughter Michelle was deeply concerned, and challenged her to start working out, and to join an online group of women trying to develop healthy habits. I'm now three years into my journey and I... Continue Reading →
I seem to have misplaced the last three weeks. Has anyone seen them? I was certain my April streak would carry me right into May, marching along with focus and discipline. Instead, I've been completely out of control of my days, and sometimes not even sure which day it actually is. My longest walk was... Continue Reading →
Actually, I don't really believe spring is here, yet - where I live, we're guaranteed to get another blast of cold and snow in April - but in theory, we'll be seeing a bit more of the sun for the next few months. (The pretty picture above is not mine; it's a Creative Commons image... Continue Reading →
How many of you remember Allison Roe? Though her reign as a leading female distance runner in the early 1980s was brief, it was impressive. She won the Boston and NYC and Seoul marathons in 1981, and broke Mary Decker Slaney's course record in the iconic Atlanta Peachtree (10K) road race the same year. This... Continue Reading →
As I hope I've made clear since back in the early days of this blog (we're one year old today!), I'm not a fitness expert. I'm just a person trying to stay fit and healthy while navigating some of the typical hurdles of middle age (slowing metabolism, muscle loss, new distributions of fat cells), as... Continue Reading →
My 10K tune-up (walking, not running) was a comedy of errors. The parking lot turned out to be nearly 1.5 miles from the starting line, and I pulled into the lot with just 15 minutes to spare. My best walking pace lately has been around 15 minutes/mile, so I was already in trouble. When I... Continue Reading →
This New York Times feature on conducting a midlife tune-up has some great information about fitness at midlife, including some short, smart workout routines, nutrition recommendations, and a few recipes. It also includes a link to a modified version of the popular 7-Minute Workout routine (which I have used in hotels with no fitness center,... Continue Reading →
If your 50+ year-old self needs a little motivation to start something new (or maybe restart something you gave up long ago), I give you Dr. Josefina Monasterio, and Julia Hawkins. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HuM2QlQDSY Dr. Josefina Monasterio took up body-building at age 59; at age 71, she looks fitter and stronger than most folks 50 years younger.... Continue Reading →
In the matter of Marmat Forte versus The RBG Workout: How She Stays Strong... and You Can Too!, written by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's personal trainer, Bryant Johnson, I've reached a verdict: RBG's notorious workout is legit. Supreme, you might say. Bryant Johnson, who "daylights" as a court clerk and 30-year Army reservist,... Continue Reading →
If you're reading this blog, you probably don't need to be convinced that exercise is a life-saver. You know that, or you likely wouldn't be here. But for some readers, getting back into a fitness routine after many years away, or perhaps starting one for the first time, is a daunting proposition. "How do I... Continue Reading →
Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to earth from the International Space Station last week, having racked up a number of records, including the longest time in continuous orbit for a female astronaut (288 days), the most cumulative hours of spacewalking for a female astronaut (53 hours, 22 minutes), and the most cumulative time in space of... Continue Reading →
Sad, but true: for men and women over age 50, it becomes harder to add and maintain muscle mass. In fact, we lose about 1% of our muscle mass each year. Some loss is due to physiological factors – changes in hormone levels, protein needs, etc. And some of the loss is self-inflicted: “use it... Continue Reading →
