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The Gray Iron Fitness Newsletter, Issue #194. New Year Fitness Goals. January 01, 2017 |
| Hi Happy New Year!
January 1, 2017
In this newsletter . . . New BeginningsTwo Check-ups for 2017
New BeginningsBe always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man [or woman -LF].-Benjamin Franklin It’ s January 1st: the month each year that gym memberships soar and fitness promises made. Will it be yoga, jogging, weights, swimming, Pilates, boot camps, or . . . the list goes on.
Popular these days, in one form or other, is HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. My page on HIIT is the second most visited at the Senior Exercise Central website.
The question is, how much workout intensity is intense enough? And how much is too much? For example, are the popular Insanity Workouts too intense for seniors? Are they safe? These are real questions received at Senior Exercise Central. Insanity Workouts are popular, and you should know that they are also highly intense. The same can be said for programs such as CrossFit, P90X, Tabata training, and many boot camp style workouts. This type of training protocol may be fine – for some people. But when it comes to seniors, I urge caution. While some of these plans offer scaled down workouts for older trainees, they are not the same workouts you see in infomercials, where super fit instructors are pushing people to extremes. Be careful. Some of this may be appropriate if you are a young senior, say in your early fifties, and you have medical clearance. But even then, you may be better served with a less-is-more approach when it comes to high intensity training. For those in their sixth decade and beyond, high intensity training gets riskier and some of it is probably not age appropriate. Tendons and ligaments, for example, at this stage of life are not as resilient as they once were. And even more serious unintended consequences than injured tendons are real possibilities. I don't mean to scare you off. I recommend setting challenging goals. But I don’t think a steady diet of workouts that push you to the limit is the best way for seniors to train. The beautifully produced infomercial workouts remind me of the workouts in the Rocky movies. Enjoy them as art, but not as real world exercise programs for seniors. Are you at mid-life or beyond? Look over the free material at Senior Exercise Central. See the Beginner Program, for example. Check out Resistance Bands training, or Kettlebells for seniors. These are serious but age appropriate training programs. It’s a New Year. Begin it with enthusiasm, but tempered with reasonable methods for attaining your goals. In short, get fit. Stay fit. But don’t hurt yourself.
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Two Check-ups for 20171. Do you take dietary supplements? Or are you considering taking them? Here’s a tip to start the New Year: Visit supplement review for some thoughts on dietary supplements, the good and bad, the pluses and minuses. It could save you money.2. I’ll risk bringing up an unpopular but important subject: Wills and trusts. Yes, I know. This newsletter is about senior strength, health and fitness. I understand and promise to bring up the subject of Wills and Trusts only once a year. But please do yourself a great favor and take a look. It’s a subject especially important for seniors. And the information is 100% free! You won’t find a better deal than that anywhere: Wills and Trusts. Happy 2017. Go forth with confidence and enthusiasm.  Newsletter Policy The Gray Iron Fitness Newsletter is a free publication sent twice monthly to subscribers. The purpose is to provide honest and realistic fitness information for people age 50 and above. I have never been paid or received compensation of any kind to write a positive review or endorse a product. If I say that I personally use a product or service, it is because I find value in it and have paid for it with my own money. Like newspapers, magazines and television, this newsletter and my web site contain advertising and marketing links. Naturally, I am compensated for these. The newsletter and web site provide information to help users establish and maintain a fitness lifestyle. But fitness information is not the same as fitness advice, which is the application of exercise and dietary practices to an individual's specific circumstances. Therefore, always consult with your physician for assurance that fitness information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate for you. Your comments and questions are always appreciated. Simply click on the "Reply" bottom. |
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