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A Few
Questions Concerning Fitness Over 50 Years Old
Here is
an email that is often received from men and women seeking to lose the
"spare tire" or weight around their hips, help reducing their blood
pressure, and overall just get healthier. It is a journey that can lead to
many enjoyable future years if you can catch up with Mother Nature and
Father Time before they catch you! Here are a few questions posed by a
gentleman in his early fifties:
Stew - I do appreciate your time and your
website it has been a huge help to me
personally. I do have a few questions for you.
1) I need to shed belly fat! I am on blood pressure medications and I
hate it. I have no restrictions from my docs but I would rather not lift
free weights. (Bodyweight at my age (52) I feel is better for me.)
I
understand and agree - bodyweight exercises can help tremendously and not
temporarily spike blood pressure like weight lifting can. If you like body
weight / calisthenics exercises, you came to the right place as I like to
focus on physical fitness testing methods and most of them are calisthenics
and some form of cardio vascular exercise. Both will help you with weight
loss (fat loss) and blood pressure reduction. In fact, I have had many
readers say that they were able to able to reduce the dose or completely get
off prescription blood pressure medications (with Doctor's approval - of
course) after a few months of starting the programs I am recommending to you
below:
For some quick results which will help with water retention too, try the 10
Day Water Challenge. This usually works best for those who neglect adequate
amounts of daily water intake and you will see noticeable weight loss within
a week by simply "adding water".
10 Day Water Intake Test
2) Equipment wise I have the following: Sleds, rings, tires, sledge
hammer, ropes, and a huge high school pool. Treadmills!
If your doctor recommends not lifting weights, I would not lift a tire,
climb ropes, pull a sled, or even swing a sledgehammer until your blood
pressure is really under control without medications, but ask your doctor to
see if he agrees. The rings are another issue. I like them in
TRX form but I would still avoid any position where your head is
lower than your heart while exercising. The rings are gymnasts rings and if
you are overweight / not in shape using them can be painful or potentially
injurious. Just take a look at the average gymnast - they are usually
lightweight, ripped, with a pound for pound muscle strength and endurance
that is highly uncommon and requires years of practice to build. The
rings CAN BE for beginners or those overweight, but you need to learn a few
basic exercises with the rings or TRX that are great options to bodyweight
exercises. (See video on TRX page for more info)
3) A suggestion on how to eat to lose body fat. I am up at 5:00 AM and in
bed by 9:45PM. Any help you can give me is so very appreciated, My kids are
having kids and I want to enjoy them.
You need to eat and drink through the day. Not just when you wake
up eat breakfast, lunch, then dinner, but a good addition to your diet
requires a snack about every 2-3 hours after a regular meal. This
healthy snacking will help you with eating too much at meals and will keep
your metabolism higher throughout the day. I would recommend this:
Eat carbohydrates ONLY in the morning (fruits / vegetables) after lunch
limit carbs to only a salad - just eat protein rich foods in the PM like
lean meat, fish, chicken, and nuts for snacks. Now the hard part -
Eliminate sugar -If you can take out
sweets, soda, white breads, and other processed foods, you will be amazed at
how quickly the weight around the waist and hips recedes. Replace with
nuts, fruits, vegetables that contain fiber to help with the insulin
response that causes the sugar stored as fat in your torso area.
Usually this is the "last stand" in the battle of the bulge as your torso is
the last part of the body to lose the weight - so be patient and give this
no sugar challenge 1-2 months for optimal results. In a few short
days, your cravings for sugar will dissipate and it will not be that
difficult to do.
Also check out this link:
See
food plan for more idea ideas with plenty of options available
As far
as workout - depends on your fitness level - I usually have people start
here:
45 Day Plan - If this FREE starter plan is
too easy, just add repetitions and increase the sets or cardio time per
workout to add to the intensity of this workout plan.
But there are other options like the
15 Day PFT challenge if you are an
intermediate level and can handle some running and high repetition
calisthenics.
Here are some other ideas for you to
add to your daily fitness program
Lower Back Plann
- Great for Torso Strength / Flexibility
Running Plans
- I would not run if you are more than 30-40 lbs overweight - YET.
Select a
non impact cardio option.
Enjoy the next few months as they will
be transformational if you can stick to the above recommendations.
Good luck and let me know how you do or if you have any questions by
emailing me at
stew@stewsmith.com.
StewSmith.com Catalog for more ideas and great gift ideas too!!
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__________________________________________________________________________________________
Stew Smith is a
former Navy SEAL and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by
the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He specializes in military
and law enforcement fitness, particularly Special Operations units. Please feel
free to email him at
Stew@stewsmith.com with any comments or questions.
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