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Spring Training 2024

Every year on Keep Moving Weekly, we use daylight savings time as a checkpoint in the year. In the Fall we look forward to spring, visualizing all the things you want to be doing in spring. Then we use that to inform and motivate exercising through the winter.

Visualization is a powerful tool used by the most successful athletes. You can use it too! Close your eyes and imaging yourself in spring 2024. What are you doing? How are you feeling?

Now use that as a guide and motivator this winter. What do you need to do those activities? Be as specific as possible. What movements do you need to be able to do that activity with ease? What skill does your body need: Strength? Stamina? Mobility? All three!?

Now set a plan to start at a level that meets you where you are now. Whether thats one strength exercises with water bottles in your hand or walking for five minutes or stretching before bed, the starting point needs to be at the level that does not cause pain or fatigue.

When you start at the level that feels good now, you get to feel good through the winter, and avoid the setbacks and discouragement of doing too much too soon.

Okay! Ready? Set? Go get ready for spring 2024!

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by | November 8, 2023 · 9:59 pm
by | August 2, 2023 · 9:08 pm

5 Strength Machines to Skip at the Gym

Strength machines at the gym are a simple way to do strength exercises needed to preserve muscle mass during weight loss.

However, the way they isolate muscle groups can be more straining for some joints in your body.

5 machines you can skip at the gym to save time, and reduce the strain on your body

  1. Crunch or abdominal machine: The job of your core is to stabilize your spine. This machine mimics a sit up motion, which is known to strain not strengthen the spine.
  2. Oblique/twisting machine: Same as above. The job of these muscles are to stabilize. Rotating your spine with resistance only strains the spine and does not teach these muscles to do their job of stabilizing. As much as we all wish it were true, twisting will not ‘work off’ love handles.
  3. Back extension machine: When your core is doing its job of stabilizing your back muscles can do their job of supporting the spine. These are small muscles, not designed to move large amounts of weight. Instead of all of the above, simply engage your core while doing exercises for your upper and lower body. This is what your core is designed to do. It does not need a machine to get stronger, just your brain to tell it to do its job.
  4. Leg extension machine: This machine can strain the knees by asking them to move a weight all by themselves. The knees are designed to support movement but your hips are the main source of strength for moving your legs. Focus on the leg press machine instead of isolating the quads and hamstrings.
  5. Seated hip ab/adduction machine: Just like you cannot burn off love handles, you also cannot burn off thigh fat. Sitting and moving weight with your hip abductors and adductors is asking these muscles and joints to do something they are not designed to do. Often, moving weight in this way causes the back to arch and can strain the hips and spine. While you may do this type of movement for physical therapy to rehab an injury, its not worth your time and energy when you are exercising to lose weight and maintain weight loss.

For strength training to work for maintaining and raising metabolism during weigh loss do this

  1. consistently 2-3 non-consecutive days a week
  2. gradually increasing to a challenging but not painful intensity. Using a resistance that causes muscle fatigue between 8-12 repetitions. Do one set light as a warm up and then 1-2 more sets at this challenging intensity
  3. movements of daily life rather than isolating muscle groups. This way you are using more muscle mass with each exercise.

Choose your machines well and you will save time and strain while strengthening at the gym.

For tips on finding home exercise strength videos click here.

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Is gaining muscle a problem for weight loss?

Many people hold off on doing strength exercises when trying to lose weight. Some misconceptsion about strength exercises includes:

  • muscle weighs more than fat
  • weight lifting will make you ‘bulk up’
  • muscle turns to fat if you stop exercising

None of these are true. They can cause you to skip one of the most important things you can do when losing weight.

The bottom line is muscle is good! You need muscle to age well, keep your metabolism while aging, women going through menopause and anyone on restricted calories. The scale is will not tell what you are losing. Studies show weight loss without strength exercises is about 30% muscle loss. That’s quite a bit considering the function of your muscles predicts your ability to age well and live longer.

Gaining muscle is not a problem. It generally will not show up on the scale. Conversely , loss of muscle eventually can show up on the scale in weight regain from reduced metabolism.

However, you do want to consider what you are doing to ensure you keep your muscles functioning strong. Your body gets used to exactly what you give it. Strength exercises that mimic movements of daily life ensure you not just hold onto muscle but those muscles are able to do what you want them to do in daily life. Your ability to get up and down off the floor, carry objects up stairs, lift something overhead, etc all depend on how consistently you tell all those muscles how to do that.

So instead of thinking about muscles as weight on the scale, think about them working together to keep you moving well against gravity, as you age and as you lose weight. You likely want to lose weight to feel and function well and stay healthy as you age. Do strength exercises to tell your body what movements you want to keep, and it will thank you with a higher metabolism, lower risk of disease, and better tolerance of aging.

The bottom line is that strength exercises that challenge muscles to work together to practice movements of daily life tell your body you would like to stay physically and metabolically strong as you lose weight and age.

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by | April 26, 2023 · 9:41 pm
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Is your Body Ready for Spring?

Despite the recent snow here in centeral Massachusetts, springtime weather is not far away. Is your body ready?

Back in the Fall we took time to do a Spring Training exercise plan. Now it’s time to check in and learn from what worked and what didn’t. Why? Because awareness is the first step for lasting changes. When you want to be healthier, feel better and function better through weight loss, the learning never stops. Each season of life brings new challenges and opportunities to being healthy. The change of seasons, especially from winter to spring is one of the best times to learn how to sustain weight loss habits.

Lets start with what went well this winter. Looking back over the past few months, what are you feeling good abou?. This can be in any area of your health or wellbeing, not just exercising. Noticing what is working in one area allows you to apply that to other areas. Jot down what worked well in your calendar in October so you remember to consider doing this again.

Now, consider what you wish you did differently. Keep the mindset of observing with curiosity, with a good dose of self-compassion. What got in the way? Was that a temporary challenge or is it a more long term change for you now in life? If it was temporary, is there anything you woudl have done differntly? If its long range change, what do you need from exercise now? What is possible now?

Also consider if what you were planning on doing was realistic and meaningful. Often we overestimate what we can fit in for exercising. Try reworking it as a range, like 5-20 minutes of walking 3-5 days a week. This allows for exercise to still fit in even when ‘life’ starts getting in the way. Keep it meaningful by connectign it with what matters most in yoru life. Exercising to burn calories so you can lose weight is too far removed from your Why. That connection to what you value most in life is a key to staying motivated.

In your October calendar, write down the insights you gained from what didnt work well this past winter.

Winter can be one of the most challenging times to keep moving . Before you jump into springtime activities, get the most from this is the moment of the year by noting what you learned. Write it down so each witner it becomes easier to stay healthy and ready for springtime activities.

Keep Moving, Be Well

Janet

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by | March 15, 2023 · 1:44 pm
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Functional Strength Training

This video is a great way to show what strength training for function and health is about. Often the images in the media for strength training are ones of body building and ‘aesthetic’ fitness. These are certainly uses of strength training exercises but they are not the only reason. In fact, for most of us, strength training is not about looking better, its about functioning as well as possible for as long as possible.

When you want to be healthy, it means more than having a clean bill of health from your doctor. Being healthy means being able to do what you enjoy, with ease and without fear of injury.

When strength exercises mimic movements of daily living, rather than isolating muscle groups, it is strength exercise for being healthy.

In this video, she is lifting heavy (or at least big) weights, but don’t let that give you the wrong idea.

The benefits she is getting is mostly from the muscle memory she is building for all of her muscles working together to do these movements with more ease when she does them in daily life. That does not require lifting large weights. It does require your full attention though so your brain and body can learn to work together. Although there are added benefits of gradually adding more resistance, but only when you have the muscle memory and core strength to do movements with ease.

So strength training for being healthy means doing movements of daily life, incorporating your core in each movement, doing them with full focus, and practicing them on a regular basis.

Keep Moving, Be Well and Stay Strong!

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by | November 16, 2021 · 10:00 pm