Posts Tagged ‘Fitness’

I’m Back in the Gym after a 3 Month Lay-Off and I Still Don’t Enjoy It

March 7th, 2010

I just bought an 18 month subscription to the gym
I am on my second mile on the treadmill when I see this old guy walking across the gym. He passes me and climbs onto the treadmill next to mine. I sneak a glance at the information on the dashboard and watch with interest as he enters his weight and then his age. 80! The man is 80 years old and he comes to the gym! I find that amazing. I think back to my grandfather who was an old man at 65 and my father who was ancient by time he was 70. The man punches in his walking plan – 4 miles. Now I am really impressed.

Who is in the gym?
According to annual surveys by the Boston based International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association that represents many of the nation’s 30,000 health clubs, membership among adults aged 55 and older rose to 10.5 million in 2008, from 1.5 million in 1987, making this group the fastest-growing segment of the health club population.

Does age matter?
This depends on the context. This is what is does in the gym: The music changes to the Beatles and the Beach Boys from the Black Eyed Peas, and the hi-tech designer spandex attire gives way to loose, comfortable pants and blouses. The conversation changes, too.

Exercise classes
In the gym where I go, the manager caters to the retired and semi-retired clients. He has laid out a special ‘retirees’ circuit of exercises on the 30-foot by 20-foot outdoor patio. The elastic resistance tubing, three-pound dumbbells, and stability and medicine balls may be sneered at by the body-building fraternity, but they are just right for these retired or semiretired clients.

What the gym offers the retired
As they begin their 30-minute regimen, the atmosphere at the club shifts. There is a lot of “do you remember…” conversation. These are familiar, comfortable, social groups who have come to exercise. The 8:30 class is for women and at 9:30 there is a stretching class for older men. Fitness clubs have changed their approach to deal with the older population. The older members have less rigid timetables and are likely to be found working out at all hours of the day. Classes are often geared for less-agile bodies or emphasize concepts like balance training, a skill that is particularly important for older adults.

The history of the gym
Many older Americans grew up in a culture of exercise, which started from the aerobics movement inspired by Dr. Kenneth Cooper in the 1960s to the weight-lifting craze after “Pumping Iron” in the 1970s and back to aerobics with Jane Fonda videos in the 1980s.

Doctors orders?
Whether they have been prodded by their physicians or spurred by research showing the many benefits of physical activity for older adults, people in their 50s and 60s are joining gyms and jolting the workout culture.

Tags: Exercising, Fitness, Gyms, Retirees, Seniors, Workout
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You stayed home on Valentine’s Day because of your body shape?

February 16th, 2010

Spend some money and get ready for 2011

You hate jogging, right? Here are some alternatives to get you into shape. All of them are designed to get quick results. According to Nick Hudson, fitness manager for Virgin Active, exercise should also be accessible and enjoyable. “Exercise in general will be less about thinking and more about enjoyment. Effective exercise is no longer about complicated, technical workouts on individual muscles.”

 

Toning shoes

A host of heirs to the MBT (or Masai Barefoot Technology) throne have pushed toning shoes into the mainstream. Among them are FitFlops, which claim to tighten your bum and work muscles while you walk. The “balance pods” under the heel and forefoot of Reebok’s Easytone shoe promise to give you 28 percent more of a workout.

 

Rollerski

This is skiing and involves two bits of wood, four wheels and two sticks: no snow required. Your feet clip into the skis at the toes, leaving your heels free to lift, as with cross-country skiing. It uses 90 percent of the body’s muscles, providing a killer all-over workout.

 

Kranking

Kranking is spinning, but with your arms, a cardo workout from the waist up.

You’ll need a Krankcycle to get started, an “arm bike” if you can imagine such a thing, with hand-pedals instead of handlebars.

 

Zumba

Zumba combines all the latest hot dance moves. It’s salsa on speed, with a dash of mambo, samba and meringue thrown in for good measure. Classes burn around 700 calories an hour.

 

ViPR

Grab a giant rubber tube and get going. You can choose your weight, from 4kg to 20kg, and choose what you do with it, from throwing it to stepping on it. ViPR, by the way, stands for Vitality, Performance and Reconditioning.

 

Hooping

A playground classic making a comeback. First lady Michelle Obama “hooped” with schoolchildren on the White House lawn last year, helping to reignite the craze. Hooping works more than 30 core muscles of the body – and you don’t even need to shell out for an exercise class.

 

Exergaming

Nintendo rules the roost with its Wii Fit games, but there’s also the EA Sports Active. Your Shape Wii is a bit like having your own personal trainer because it features a camera that gives you instant feedback on your body shape.

 

Shake Weight

The Shake Weight is a vibrating dumbbell that relies on the unlikely-sounding technology of “dynamic inertia” to tone your arms in just six minutes a day.

 

Aerial fitness

This involves swinging through the sky on trapeze-style bars to tone up. It’s certainly more fun than your average exercise class. A workout called Jukari: Fit to Fly comes with a Cirque du Soleil seal of approval.

 

Indo Board

If wobble boards just don’t do it for you, then try investing in an Indo Board. Imagine surfing indoors on a bit of wood balanced on a separate tube and you’ll get the gist.

 

 

 

Tags: Body Building, Body shape, Exercise, Fitness, Muscles
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