The Senior Walking Fitness Blog

Hello Everybody,

Nordic Walking is something I have not written about for a while, so for those who have not considered it, here is a little more information.

Nordic walking is walking with poles. It originated in Finland where it was used to simulate cross country skiing in the summer months, so that skiers could keep themselves in training. When properly carried out it makes walking a lot easier and exercises the upper body more than walking without poles.

Poles, sometimes called Nordic walking sticks, help propel the walker along, so although he or she is working harder, the support given makes walking seem easier. The result is that 20 per cent more calories are burnt off and it feels no more arduous than walking at the same speed without the use of poles.

The upper body is rotated by Nordic walking and this strengthens the spinal discs and can help reduce back pain. So it is a good way of extending the cardio vascular benefits found in normal walking.

Nordic walking is worth a try, but you must be taught. It is a very bad idea just to buy a pair of poles and to teach yourself. Nordic walking is now popular in many countries and it is likely that you will be able to find a Nordic walking instructor nearby. Make sure he or she is properly qualified and belongs to the INWA (International Nordic Walking Association) this ensures that you will be trained properly and safely.

Basic instruction will take about two hours and you will then know if you want to carry on or not. If you find you enjoy it your instructor will be able to provide information about local Nordic walking groups, where you can practice and lean more. You will find groups very friendly and helpful and you will make new friends as you learn.

Apart from good boots and the usual walking gear suitable for climate and time of year the only equipment you will need to buy are the two poles. These are not very expensive, a reasonable quality pair will cost you about 35 US dollars.

For general use, aluminium poles are light and strong and will last for many years.

Get the height right. The pole should be adjustable, so that you can pull it out and lock it, making sure your elbow is at an angle of 90 degrees.

You must be happy with the grip. There are several styles and materials available and you should be certain the grips feel comfortable in your hands.

Wrist straps are best padded to avoid chaffing your wrists.

You will have a choice of baskets. These are circular discs which fit over the end of the poles and help you negotiate mud and slippery ground. You can fit bigger ones for soft mud or snow. You should also have some rubber tips, which fit over the ends of the poles for safety when transporting them. These can also be used for walking on pavements or asphalt roads.

As you see, Nordic walking needs a little more dedication than normal walking or hiking. If you want to combine walks in the country with serious birding or deer watching Nordic walking is not for you. But if you are pursuing a walking for weight loss program and want to burn off as many calories as possible each day, Nordic walking is well worth consideration.

See you soon,

28 November 2009

photo. www.skiwalking.com

Technorati Tags: best way to lose weight, easy weight loss, nordic poles, nordic walking, nordic walking instructor, nordic walking sticks, nordik walking, pole, walking, walking for weight loss

Hello Everybody,

To stay as young as possible for as long as possible you will need to do a few things and not do a few things.

You need to maintain a healthy weight. What is a healthy weight? Technically, for older people, it is a Body Mass Index (BMI) of no more than 27-30. BMI being your weight (in kilos) divided by your height (in metres) squared. But you will know if you are overweight anyway and being overweight is the first thing you must deal with to stay young.

How to maintain a healthy weight? Eat oily fish, such as mackerel twice a week, eat lean meat and eat fresh fruit and vegetables as a basic diet. This is the Mediterranean diet. There are plenty of weight loss programs available and they can be confusing, but the Mediterranean diet is one of the best. There is a massive amount of research which tells us the Mediterranean diet promotes fitness and longevity. There has been less research done on apple cider vinegar, but it has an enthusiastic following. We are told that it helps lower blood glucose levels, burns fat rather than stores it and helps with alkaline/acid balance. If it does all that it is worth considering, and it will not harm you even if it does not. Just drink one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar before each meal and see if you get positive results.

Exercise. You must exercise to maintain health and fitness.. For older people a walking for weight loss program of a mile or so a day is the easiest and best way to exercise. You may also exercise with light weights to help the upper body remain strong if you feel you are able.

Balance. Do some balance training. The simplest form of this is to stand on one leg, count slowly up to 30 and then stand on the other leg for the same length of time. Once you can do that try standing on a cushion or a pillow. Falls from lack of balance cause more injuries to older people than anything else. So it is worth spending a minute a day doing balance training. But make sure you have something to hold on to if needed. Having a fall as a result of balance training rather defeats the whole idea of doing it.

Stress. You need to lower your stress levels. Try to spend some time with other people. Group outings are good as they are generally jolly occasions and you may make new friends. Some say spending time with children keeps you young. The secret is to keep cheerful and optimistic and enjoy the things you do.

Pets. Keeping a pet is particularly good for people living alone. Cats and dogs are best, but do let the cat out once a day and exercise the dog. They will both get fat if they have no exercise, for the same reasons we do. Animal lovers do not keep birds in cages.

Mental Agility. Use your brain. Do crosswords, have a hobby, surf the internet, write your memoirs, try to learn something every day and you will stay young mentally.

Some things not to do are to smoke, to drink more than a glass of wine a day, or lead a sedentary lifestyle. If you are unable to exercise, due to ill health, you must look carefully at your diet. It is easy to comfort eat if you cannot get out much and you must try not to eat too much. If you do you will get fat and stay fat. So try to eat a healthy diet and not much of it. Older people should not let themselves get thin, but should try to stay at the upper level of their ideal BMI by keeping to a weight loss program.

A really long life - to 100 years old - is linked to inheriting a hyperactive version of an enzyme which prevents cells aging. This explains why great age runs in families. You may not be able, or want to, live to a 100. But it is possible, with a little bit of luck, to keep fit and healthy well into your later years.

See you soon,

18 November 2009

Photo. Astrid Walker

Technorati Tags: being overweight, best way to lose weight, health and fitness, how to lose weight, senior exercise, weight loss programs

Hello Everybody,  

Are you overweight and unfit? You think you really must do something about it, but cannot get the motivation to start? You are not alone, go to any superstore and you will see dozens of obese people waddling along the aisles. A good number of them would like to lose weight, just like you. But they never do. They can’t get motivated. You are different, you are reading about it. That’s a beginning.

So how do people get fat? They are not born that way. People often get fat through stress. Stress leads to depression and depression leads to comfort eating. Start comfort eating and before you know it you are overweight. There are other ways of getting fat. It may be your peer group. Everybody else is fat so what’s wrong with being fat yourself? There is even such a thing as greed, although we no longer use the word.

It is not easy for a depressed person, or someone in a fat peer group or maybe with other difficulties, to start weight loss programs. So look at what is causing your problem. Perhaps you can get help  solving it.

But how to get motivated to lose weight. Have you tried to lose weight before and failed? That is often caused by expecting too much and this is fuelled by extravagant claims online and in the press. You want to lose 30 pounds in 3 weeks to look good on holiday. There are people out there who will tell you that it is possible. It has probably been done, but for most people it won’t work. So they fail and think they can’t lose weight and it’s no good trying any more. There goes the motivation.

What you need to do is get organised and set realistic goals.

You can lose 2 pounds in a week. ‘But that’s not much and slimming will take for ever’ you may say. Well, try for a week and prove you can do it. Lose that 2 pounds, then aim to lose another 6 pounds in the next 3 weeks. That’s over half a stone in a month. Not bad. Aim for another 6 pounds in the next 3 weeks. Do that and you have lost a stone. Is that good news or isn’t it?

Don’t put it off. It is easy to say you will start next week, or after your holiday or whenever. Start today. Just do it and you are on your way.

Now you know your first aim - lose 2 pounds in a week. When to start - today.

But how to lose weight? Through diet and exercise. You can’t do it with just the one or the other. That is where crash diets let you down.

So go to the fridge and throw out high sugar and high fat products. Fizzy drinks, pizzas, fat meat, white bread, pastry, that sort of thing. Yes it is costing you money, and you may need agreement with your family, but just do it. Then restock with lean meat, oily fish such as mackerel, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, granary bread and a bottle of red wine. This is known as the Mediterranean diet and is about as healthy and good tasting as diets come. Have a glass of red wine with your meal - not the bottle, wine does contain sugar and calories but is fine in moderation. So that’s the diet, try it and see what you think. There are plenty of recipes available based on these ingredients. ‘The Mediterranean Diet’ by Marissa Cloutier is a good book to read.

For your exercise you will need to walk up to a mile a day. It is not as hard as it sounds. Start slow, just wander round the block, next day walk a little further. As soon as you can walk for ten minutes, then turn round and walk back. You have just walked a mile. When you can do this easily, walk a mile briskly. That’s your diet and walking for weight loss program. Not much to it really. In a week you will be 2 pounds lighter - and you started today.

See you soon,

Photo. Carl Neufelder

Technorati Tags: being overweight, health and fitness, how to get motivated to lose weight, how to lose weight, weight loss programs

Hello Everybody,

We know that in order to lose weight a healthy diet and exercise must go together. But for older people this is even more necessary. If they diet without exercise they are likely to lose more muscle than people who exercise as well. This is one of those things that seems obvious. But research confirms it.

A study divided 64 participants aged 60-75 years into three groups - diet only, exercise only and diet and exercise. They all reduced their calorie intake to achieve a 10% weight loss at the end of four months. The researchers then measured how many calories they expended during a set work load on a stationary bicycle at the beginning and end of the four months.

The exercise group used fewer calories at the end for the study than at the beginning. Thus proving that they had become more efficient.

The diet only group did not gain in efficiency, although, like the others, they did weigh less at the end of the experiment.

The exercise plus diet group was the most efficient.

In other words, after four months of the program, the exercise and diet group was the fittest. There are many studies out there, and they all prove that diet and exercise carried out to improve fitness works.

In older people avoiding obesity is a must. Many of the illnesses of old age are complicated by obesity. So it is just common sense to lose weight if necessary. This does not mean becoming obsessional about it. If you are over 65 do not even consider cosmetic surgery, there is a steep increase in complications as you get older and it is best left alone. Older people should not allow their weight to fall into the low-normal range, they should keep their weight to normal or the upper range of normal. In fact there are those who say that a Body Mass Index of 27-30 is ideal. Body Mass Index is weight(in kilos) divided by height(in metres) squared. This would be overweight, but not obese in a younger person.

It has been found that the usual restricted calorie diets have no significant negative effects on older people. So if they are trying to lose weight because of obesity they need not worry about problems associated with a change of diet.

People over 70 years are likely to start losing weight naturally. This can be a concern and is the reason I suggested trying to keep weight to normal or above. Once again diet and exercise helps. Exercise can slow down the natural weight loss caused by shrinking muscles and diet helps keep to the ideal weight.

As people age they slow down and tend to eat less. But if they have a good diet and exercise as much as they are able, the healthier they will be. Walking is the best exercise of all for older people and if they do it every day, maybe with a friend for company, they will remain fit and well for many years.

See you soon,

9 November 2009

Photo.designatednaphour

Technorati Tags: fitness walking program, heart health, nordic walking, nordic walking exercise, senior walking exercise, walking for fitness, walking for weight loss, weight loss

Hello Everybody,

If you are walking to lose weight establishing a routine can be difficult. There is always too little time and the best of intentions may not be fulfilled. Finding a walking buddy is a good way of motivating yourself and getting out on a regular basis. Another way is to join a club. Most towns and cities have walking clubs and they are all delighted to have new members. It is, of course, safer to walk in a group and you can choose your own level of participation. Some will want to do short walks, others more demanding hikes. Join a club that suits you and you will find like minded people to help you along the way.

Each trip has a leader who will introduce you to other members and make sure you are getting along well. The leader will also be a fund of local knowledge and will know all the best walks and the best and cheapest places to buy new gear.

How often a group meets depends on the group, some as often as three times a week others at weekends only. Just choose what is the best for you. You will meet people of all ages and social backgrounds coming together because of their shared love of walking and the outdoors. Many you would never come in contact with in your normal everyday life. Meeting new people can be one of the great benefits of joining a group.

It is a good idea to conform to the general etiquette of your group. This may vary from a relaxed to a more structured approach. All that is needed is basic good manners and thoughtfulness for other people.

Turn up on time. There is nothing worse than keeping a group waiting. Some people think bad time keeping is cute. It is not, just bad mannered. If you are stuck in traffic you probably didn’t allow enough time to reach the venue. If you are likely to be late let people know. A real emergency is forgiven, regular lateness is not.

Switch off mobiles. Do take a mobile phone for emergencies, but switch it off when you are with others. People walk as a change from their normal way of life. Ring tones and protracted conversations will not endear yourself to fellow walkers.

Listen and learn. It is likely that people in the group have been walking longer than you have. They will be happy to give you help and encouragement. Show your appreciation.

No politics or religion. It is good manners at first to avoid controversial subjects. Just relax and enjoy your walk together.

That is all there is to it. Particularly if you live alone you will find your walking group a source of friendship and support. It will also encourage you to make a regular commitment to a walking for weight loss program.

On the days when your walking group does not meet do try to keep up with your exercise. You can walk by yourself or with a friend. Maybe somebody you have met in your group.

Try and get some exercise every day. There will be times when the weather is just too bad to go out, so remember every piece of exercise counts. Take short bursts; vigorous house cleaning, climbing the stairs briskly, even run up and down them several times. Burn off as many calories as you can until the weather changes and you are back to your walking fitness program again.

See you soon,

2 November 2009

photo. freefoto

Technorati Tags: fitness tips, fitness walking, heart health, over fifties, senior walking, walk fit, walking exercise, walking fitness, weightloss