Unlocking the Secrets to Aging Gracefully

Aging is an inevitable part of life, but it doesn't mean we must surrender to its effects without a fight. We have a choice in how we age; one powerful way to make that choice is through functional training. 

In this blog post, we'll define functional training and review its importance in mitigating the physiological effects of aging and how it can help you maintain the energy and vitality of someone years younger. Whether you're new to the concept of muscle fitness or looking to enhance your existing routine, this guide will provide valuable insights into aging gracefully.

What is functional training?

As we journey through the inevitable aging process, we face a crucial decision: 

1) accept it and let nature take its course, or 

2) fight it. 

The right exercise program can be a formidable ally in the battle against aging. It can deliver numerous benefits that minimize the physical toll of aging, allowing us to maintain the vigor and vitality of our younger selves. And functional training plays a role. Functional training is a type of exercise designed to train the body for activities of daily living. 

The functional training approach

Functional training is evolving, and exercising as we age can empower us with the strength and energy needed to fully enjoy life's activities and prepare for a healthier future. Instead of obsessing over the mirror and the scale, it's time to prioritize overall physical fitness. Every workout can be a magic pill that extends your life's length and quality.

To help make it easier for you to get started with functional training, we’ve included links to some of our favorite tools and equipment. 

1. Mobility and Flexibility Training - Mobility and flexibility training focus on coordinating body movements through space. This helps prevent common musculoskeletal injuries associated with aging, such as sore knees, aching backs, and general discomfort. By incorporating mobility training, you'll keep your muscles and joints healthy and mobile, paving the way for an active lifestyle as you age.

2. Strength and Power Training - Aging often leads to muscle mass loss and decreased functional muscle capacity. Strength training is the key to combating this age-related muscle atrophy. Additionally, power training enhances your muscle's ability to generate force quickly, which is essential for daily activities and preventing falls. Both strength and power are crucial for healthy aging.

Foundational Movement Patterns 

There are six foundational patterns of movement for mobility training and strength/power training. Whether doing mobility training or strength/power training, focus on these principal movement types:

• Hip Hinge – Hinge at the hip with both feet planted. The movement begins from the hip and has little involvement from the knees. Think of picking up a large empty box from the floor and bending from the hip instead of at the knees.

• Squat – both feet planted, movement begins at the hips but includes bending and straightening the knees. Think of lifting a box up off the floor with your legs.

• Single Leg patterns – It could mean exercises balancing on one leg at a time or having one foot in front of the other but still shoulder distance apart. Many lower body exercises can be done from this stance.

• Push – Pushing an object away from your body – either forward or overhead. Think of a plank, bench press, or pushup.

• Pull – Pulling an object towards you – either forward or overhead. Think of a pull-up or tug-of-war.

• Rotation – Rotation movements combine pulling and pushing motions involving both upper and lower body segments, where the pelvis rotates. Think of the action of chopping wood or an overhand serve in tennis, where your arms or upper body cross the plane of the front of the body.

Start Your Journey with Mobility Training

Incorporating these movement patterns into your training regimen is essential for achieving a well-rounded and functional capacity as you age.

Begin your fitness journey by prioritizing mobility training. This foundational step ensures you develop balanced physical abilities and functional capacity, setting the stage for a healthier and more active life as you age.

Mobility training should be a fundamental part of your routine, encompassing activities like stretching and connective tissue work with tools such as foam rollers, therapy balls, stability balls, and therapy bands. Three effective approaches to integrating mobility training into your regimen are bedtime stretches, Pilates, gentle yoga, and incorporating the use of props. These practices enhance mobility and provide a dual benefit by simultaneously strengthening your body. Whether you're new to exercise or an experienced enthusiast, these methods suit everyone.

Consistency matters. Even when a full workout seems daunting, allocating some time to mobility work, especially through stretching, is crucial. This effort contributes to preserving your muscles' and joints' health and flexibility. You'll be surprised at how spending as little as 15 minutes each day or incorporating brief stretch breaks into your daily routine can significantly affect your movement patterns and overall physical skills. Journaling your activity and scheduling it into your calendar is an excellent way to help you kickstart a new behavior. 

Once you've established a solid foundation in mobility, it's time to incorporate strength and power training.

Level up with Strength and Power Training

After establishing a solid foundation in mobility, it's time to take your fitness journey to the next level by introducing strength and power training into your routine.

Unleash the Benefits of Strength Training: Strength training offers many advantages, especially for midlife women. Notably, the results become apparent relatively quickly, with nearly any exercise involving weights or just your body weight leading to noticeable improvements in strength. The beauty of strength training lies in its versatility, providing you with a diverse range of workout options to keep your routine fresh and engaging.

Crafting Your Strength Routine: Begin your strength journey by incorporating strengthening exercises into your routine at least twice a week. Gradually, as your strength improves, consider increasing your training frequency to three or four sessions per week. You can kickstart your journey with bodyweight exercises. Still, as you progress, you may want to use various equipment like dumbbells, resistance bands, gym machines, or even barbells and heavier weights.

Dive into Specific Strength Patterns: For midlife women, it's crucial to include specific strength patterns in your training regimen. You can either integrate some of these patterns into each workout session or dedicate specific days to focus on each pattern individually. This adaptability ensures that you can maintain high motivation levels and continually challenge yourself as you become a healthier and stronger version of yourself.

• Unilateral Training: Unilateral training involves using only one arm or leg during an exercise. This type of training enhances the strength of the specific limb being worked and has an interesting side effect: research indicates that it can boost the strength of the opposite limb. Additionally, unilateral training contributes to core strength, stabilizing the spine and pelvis. This helps prevent muscle imbalances and enhances overall stability, vital for maintaining a healthy body as we age. The rationale behind this approach is rooted in the fact that many of our daily movements primarily engage one arm or leg at a time. Unilateral training exercises are often performed using dumbbells or kettlebells.

• Resistance Training: While all the discussed exercises contribute to strength improvement, resistance training takes a more intense approach. It focuses on using heavier weights and simultaneously engages the entire body or both limbs. For example, exercises like squatting with a weighted bar or performing bench presses fall under this category. The primary objective of resistance training is to develop the capability to lift heavier objects, thereby increasing overall strength. To achieve this goal, working with heavier weights is essential.

• Power Training: Power training is an often overlooked aspect of fitness, particularly for midlife women. Our bodies contain different muscle fibers, including slow-twitch and fast-twitch fibers. Fast-twitch fibers are responsible for explosive movements and are critical in enhancing the resilience of elastic tissues and ligaments. These areas are commonly associated with injuries and muscle strains. Unfortunately, age-related muscle loss often leads to a decline in fast-twitch fibers. These fibers are essential for preventing falls or reacting quickly, such as jumping out of obstacles or even leaping over small obstacles like puddles. Incorporating explosive movements into your routine can stimulate the development of these fast-twitch muscle fibers. Starting with small activities like brief bouts of skipping, hopping from one foot to the other, or even hopscotch can be an excellent starting point. Gradually progress to more challenging activities, such as jumping onto a box or platform or engaging in medicine ball slams or throws, possibly with a workout partner. Incorporating power training can enhance your ability to react swiftly and effectively, which is especially valuable as you age.

The Importance of Muscle Fitness

Just as aerobic exercise enhances heart health, muscle fitness exercises strengthen and improve skeletal muscles, enhancing your ability to move. Studies show that adults who engage in twice-weekly strength training reduce their mortality risk. Beyond health benefits, functional training adds quality to your years, ensuring you can enjoy your favorite activities for longer.

Aging may be inevitable, but how we age is within our control. Embrace functional training as a powerful tool to age gracefully, maintain vitality, and enjoy life fully. Incorporating mobility, strength, and power training into your routine will unlock the secrets to healthy aging. 

For more information and sample exercises, check out "Ageless Intensity" by Pete McCall, a valuable resource on this transformative journey. Embrace the 'silver bullet' of movement and enhance your cognitive function while adding quality to your years.

Expert or Quack? Recognizing the real health, nutrition, exercise, and wellness experts

There is a proliferation of ‘experts’ on social media who claim to have a magic or singular approach for dieting, weight loss, quick fitness gains, and overall health. It’s challenging to tell the difference between an expert and someone only interested in selling something. How do you know what works and what is just the latest fad? 

Everyone loves the idea of a fast solution for losing weight and getting healthy. Unfortunately, there is no magic pill, and the promise of a quick fix can be the very thing that prevents you from achieving your long-term health goals. Even if you are cautious, it isn’t easy to differentiate the true experts from someone trying to sell you a product or quick-fix solution that doesn’t work and can even be dangerous for your health.

Below are tips to help you weed out the “wellness” imposters from your social media feed. 

Do their credentials align with the subject? Many high-profile, highly credentialed individuals give health advice beyond their training. Just because you eat and move your body does not make you an expert on nutrition and exercise.

Anyone can share their personal story of what has worked for them, but they cannot and should not be prescribing the same approach as the answer for everyone. And they should not be counseling others without proper education to customize personalized approaches for each individual.

For example, personal trainers can talk about healthier foods and the importance of eating a healthy and balanced diet. Yet, in Minnesota (and many other states), personal trainers cannot give you a nutrition plan. That is outside their credentials or educational background. They absolutely should not be selling or recommending specific micronutrients and supplements.  

Is there evidence of practice scope creep? Do your research to understand the credentials individuals have and determine what their scope of practice is with that credential. For example, a health coach is an individual who has typically received a coaching certificate for completing ~32 to ~75  hours of training. That is equivalent to less than one to two college courses. A health coach is trained to take you through a process of asking questions and helping you determine what you should do next to change or move towards your goals. They are NOT educated to give you specific or personalized health advice with only a coaching certificate without additional education. Sometimes degreed professionals also have coaching certificates to expand their scope of practice.

Another example is someone promoting themselves as a ‘Dr.’, but their degree is in another field, such as a doctor of chiropractic degree or a Ph.D. in philosophy. That degree alone may not give them the expertise to give dietary or weight loss plans, prescribe supplements, or exercise programs outside of treating the injury. 

Do they showcase scientific literacy? If they speak in absolutes, probably not.

As new research comes out, science is constantly evolving, and so should recommendations. Experts in their field will describe the nuances that come with any recommendation. 

For example, a registered dietitian nutritionist will never speak in absolutes about one diet being the only diet for weight loss. Nutrition and exercise programs should be personalized to an individual’s health history, activity level, and goals. 

Remember, it’s easy for someone to cherry-pick scientific articles and quickly cite references or research that substantiates their recommendations. Experts consider the totality of the research. True experts will evolve their thinking on a particular topic as the research progresses. 

Are their recommendations black and white? Absolute statements should be a red flag. If we’ve learned anything over the years, people are individuals, and their health needs are individualized. Experts provide nuanced recommendations and caveats based on individual situations and goals, not absolutes generalized to everyone. They are most likely to use caveats such as ‘it depends,’ ‘in some situations,’ and ‘for these circumstances’ rather than words like ‘must’ and ‘should.’

Your background, culture, traditions, desires, likes, and dislikes should play into any recommendations. No expert will tell you that you should eliminate certain foods or that only specific exercises done in a certain way or frequency will improve your health. 

Do their statements recognize individual differences? Take note if anyone is trying to give recommendations without knowing your health history, habits, and personal goals. This black-and-white thinking gets followers—vegan versus the carnivores, powerlifting versus functional training—but it confuses everyone and serves no one. And, if you are older and have chronic conditions or other health issues, it can be dangerous. 

Do they have established real-world experience? When you work with people, you learn a lot about how to help people change their behavior to improve their health in realistic ways and without injury. Sometimes what is happening in the real world is ahead of science. 

Seasoned health practitioners with an evidenced-based practice will always incorporate their hands-on experience, the weight of peer-reviewed literature, and the needs of the individual, along with client/patient preferences, in their recommendations. 

Will they profit from their recommendation? Experts are often spokespeople for products. They can say they only work with companies they trust and use their products personally. That is probably true, but consumers are savvy. These relationships create distrust. We’re not saying that this alone should make you question credibility, but pay attention to it. 

Assess whether someone is science-based. Look at the information they are presenting and their credentials. 

Is it more anecdotal promising a quick fix, or is it based on recent media hype?

You can learn from others' experiences, but they may not be the right people to advise you.

Science follows a hierarchy. Anecdotes, observational studies, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), systematic reviews, and meta-analyses of RCTs. Science-based experts look at the entire body of literature before making recommendations for an individual. Major organizations, like the American Heart Association, create position stands by weighing all the evidence.  When you understand the research, you realize recommendations need to be tailored to the individual. 

Lastly, true experts in a specific field will readily display their education and certification credentials, discuss their specialties and experience, and help with referrals to an expert in areas where they’re not qualified. 

It can be challenging to distill an expert from a good marketer. Take your time, review their recommendations, listen to your gut, and use these tips to help you decide if their advice is right for you.

Eleven Reasons Strength Training in Midlife Improves Health

Your body is a gift. Every fiber of your body — each of the eleven elements that comprise your body — has carried you through your life. Your body held hands, loved others, gave hugs, perhaps birthed babies, and cared for others. 

Indeed, it has sometimes betrayed us, become ill, suffered broken bones, endured surgeries, and as we age, has begun to creak and groan. For some, it may not move at all or how we want it to. But, your body is a gift, and moving it can be a reminder that we do so because we can.

For all but a few, our body doesn’t look the same in midlife as it did two to three decades ago. Yes, it’s ok to reminisce about that 30-year-old body, but rather than compare the current body to its younger version, be grateful for how far it has brought you in this life and for the journey still ahead. 

Movement helps a body adapt, grow, heal, and stay healthy. Just watch a baby, toddler, or young child, and you know this is true. Movement helps prevent and repair injuries. 

Your body is also the thing that can prevent you from having the quality of life you desire in your older years. With few exceptions, the better you treat your body - the more movement you give it - the better it will treat you. 

It is never too late to start. Be good to your body, and it will be good to you.

Focus now on how to move your body to stay strong and enable you to do the things you want. Think about the events or experiences our parents or grandparents didn’t get to enjoy at our age. 

How do you know what movement your body needs? Try this reflection exercise. Close your eyes for five minutes and imagine what you want to be doing in your 90s. Yes, your 90s; if you have great genes or can life hack your way towards being a centenarian, what do you want to have the capability of doing? Next, think about what you need to do in your 60s, 70s, and 80s to live out that dream? 

Chances are high that everyone imagined a life full of movement and strength rather than one where they’re sitting in an armchair watching tv or in a rocking chair on the porch watching the world pass by. Consider whatever visualization you had of your future fit and healthy self to be your version of winning the gold medal at the centenarian Olympics. And, everyone knows if you want to make it to the Olympics, you have to train for it. 

The only way to have a high quality of life is to maintain a strong and active body. If you don’t feel that is your body today, then it’s time to train to get the strong body you deserve and to have the one you need. What do you physically need to do now to have the physical life you want later?

How do you do that? You move. You train your muscles. Your muscles will adapt and grow stronger. Yes, cardiovascular fitness (aerobic) and physical activity are essential, but most women focus too much on those exercises and neglect strength training. If you love your cardio workouts, you can always combine more muscle strengthening exercises into your cardio routine. 

Strength training is one of the cornerstone things women can do to improve their health span to live vibrantly and energetically for as long as possible. As we age, the body declines first, then disease begins. The best way to offset illness is to prevent the body from deteriorating. And the best way to do that is to maintain muscle mass. 

Many things happen when you start doing resistance training, weight lifting, or even bodyweight exercises to strengthen your muscles. 

You will:

• Increase stability and balance, which helps you better control your body in space.

• Experience better bone health. After age 65, the risk of death within one year of breaking a hip or femur during a fall is 30-40 percent.

• Change your metabolism, helping to prevent metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes).

• Manage weight because you’ll burn more calories as your body composition changes. 

• Move throughout your day more easily. Lifting heavier items, climbing stairs, bending over, and getting up from the floor will all go more smoothly.

• Stave off the frailty that comes with age. Falls due to a lack of muscle mass are almost entirely the cause of accidents and death after the age of 75

• Increase joint mobility and decrease non-arthritic joint pain, which prevents injuries,

• Have greater independence, so you tire less quickly and can do more physical things.

• Improve appearance. Most women appreciate their appearance more after starting a strength training program. Improved muscle tone smoothes skin.

• Have the energy you desire to move through your day doing the things you dream of doing. 

• Improve your mood, and overall just feel better! 

Now is the time to be your best kick-ass self and flourish after 50. 

As you strength train, it’s also important to ensure you eat enough protein. Check out our 90-Day Protein Journal for a guided tool to help you build a new daily habit that sticks!

Check out other blog posts from Rumblings Media on becoming fitter and physically active in midlife. 

Together we Rumble!

Why Physical Activity is Important as We Age

We know that physical activity and exercise are essential. Physical Activity is one of the most important things we can do for our overall health. Yet, for many of us, we have the same type of relationship with exercise that we do with fad diets.

We try it, and we may even try the latest exercise trend, yet less than half of the people who start an exercise program stick with it for more than six months.  

The benefits of exercise and activity are clear. Anyone who is physically able should accumulate 150 minutes of moderate physical activity every week, and half as much if that activity is intense.

In 2018, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans were updated to recommend how much adults should move. It includes a review of movement, sitting, and health science.

It’s difficult to shift through the information on how much exercise is enough. How hard does exercise have to be to count? Do you have to do 30 minutes all at once for five days a week? Is it even worth the effort to do less? The most straightforward answer to these questions is moving more and sitting less. Continue to do that consistently, and you will reap the health benefits.

Research shows middle-aged and older adults spend an average of 8.5 to 10.5 hours a day sedentary. Compared with their more active peers, this inactive group had higher mortality rates.

The most important thing you can do is to get off the couch. The most significant health benefits come from spending less time being sedentary and more time being physically active. We spend most of our free time sitting. Many of us work at a desk in front of a computer. Since the pandemic, we sit even more. We transition from our desk chairs to spending our evenings in front of a screen or reading a book. We drive to do our errands, pick the closest parking spot to the door, use drive-thru windows, and meet friends for dinner and sit.

Even kids, the most active segment of the population, have dramatically increased the amount of time they spend being sedentary.

Many who do structured exercise each day with a run, walk, or other cardiovascular (cardio) activity are sedentary for the remainder of the day.

An inactive lifestyle has many adverse effects on your health. You burn fewer calories, contributing to a loss of muscle strength contributing to weight gain. Your bones grow weaker and lose mineral content. Your metabolism changes and your body won’t break down fats and sugars. When this happens, it causes inflammation and poor immune function.

Those health effects from inactivity ultimately lead to the diseases that midlife women experience with age leading to more and more inactivity.  Lack of physical activity can contribute significantly to an inability to live independently and have a high quality of life as we age. 

It’s time to get honest about getting active and find ways to be active throughout your day. Get bite-sized activity ‘snacks’ spread throughout each day. These snacks are essential whether you’re doing a 30-minute brisk walking session or similar activity five times a week or are a couch potato.

If you are a yo-yo exerciser, primarily sedentary, or a somewhat inactive exerciser, try building a foundation of daily physical activity. Move more and sit less throughout the day, and you may find yourself moving into a daily exercise program you can sustain as a regular habit.

By incorporating activity snacks, you may enjoy counting steps and find that you can accumulate the number of steps to improve your health.  Newer research indicates the optimal step count for people younger than 60 is about 8,000 to 10,000 a day and 6,000 to 8,000 for those 60 and older. You may even accumulate the 150 minutes of moderate physical activity recommended each week without even realizing it. 

What do these activity snacks look like? Check out the ideas below. It’s easier and more fun than you might imagine incorporating small chunks of activity throughout the day. Start by using these ideas, and then create your own.

• Take a break from sitting. Get up, stand, or move for at least 10 minutes every hour. Set a timer as a reminder. 

• Have shorter meetings. Shorten meetings to 25 or 50 minutes and use the extra time to move.

• Walk one flight up, two flights down. Always take the stairs whenever possible, even if you only start with one or two flights.

• Walk the dog. Rather than let your dog out into the yard, take them for a walk. It’s an excellent activity for both of you!

• Park farther away. Take a parking spot farther away from the door and walk when driving to errands. It’s easier to find a spot, and there will be less traffic further away.

• Find every opportunity to walk. Walk around during phone calls. Walk rather than sit in a coffee shop. Get up during TV commercials. Walk during breaks at sporting events.

• Schedule an active gathering. When getting together with family and friends, have it centered around activity. Hike, take a scenic walk or even play Pickleball.

• Play more. If you have grandkids or even older children, find a way to incorporate more play into your day. It’s a fun way to spend quality time with them, and it models active behavior for them.

• Walk to do your errands. Walk to the grocery store, pick up dry cleaning, or the bank.

• Use a standing desk. The more time spent standing rather than sitting or reclining (other than sleeping), the better. Meet or work standing up.

• Do yard work or garden. Weeding, watering, or tending a garden or yard is a fun way to be outdoors and get activity.

• Stretch every day. If daily exercise is a struggle, do a daily stretch as a way to stay flexible while adding more physical activity.

Are you looking for even more ideas? Download Rumblings’ 40 free tips for incorporating more movement in your day as part of our Move in May Challenge, or read our blog post on ways to move more and sit less in midlife.

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The Key to Getting Fit After 50

“Fitness is a journey, not a destination. It must be continued for the rest of your life.” Kenneth Cooper, MD, started the aerobics movement with his book Aerobics in 1968. 

As an exercise scientist with a background in health, conversations with family and friends often center around fitness and physical activity. 

This year has been especially challenging as most of the women we speak with have been sharing they were more sedentary and exercised less than they had previously. 

Combine this with the changes and effects of aging, and the body and fitness level changes have been dramatic. 

As one family member shared, looking in the mirror is shocking enough to wonder, whose body is this?!

It’s tempting to jump on the bandwagon of quick-fix diets and exercise plans. But we’re over that! Right, friends?

Just as you may have started and failed a myriad of diets or eating fads, you may have an on-off-again relationship with exercise and physical activity. Any promise for a quick fix is exactly that - fast and unstainable. Thankfully that’s in the past! 

And, unfortunately, the focus for exercising is commonly based on improving physical appearance, yet the more important benefits of exercising and being physically active come from the inside out. We need to have a long-term focus on living a healthy lifestyle. 

But, what exactly is the difference between being physically active and exercising? Which is better for us for a sustainable lifestyle approach as we age? 

Most of us have been told over the years that we need to participate in structured fitness programs - mainly cardiovascular or aerobic. For many, that means attending a class, getting on a cardio machine, running, or biking. Read our last blog post on how much exercise is optimal for health. 

The truth is, physical activity and fitness aren’t all-or-nothing propositions. And doing one doesn’t negate the benefit of the other. The real trick is to find ways to incorporate physical activity throughout our day, every day, with or without a regular exercise routine. 

Crushing it on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes, four times a week, only to spend the rest of your day sitting at a desk and moving to the sofa in the evening minimizes the health impact of your hard cardio workout. 

We’ve found that many women—whether they exercise or not—are short on meeting recommendations for physical activity. Research shows that half of all women decrease regular exercise during middle age. At the same time, women lose lean muscle mass as they age.

A key to leading a more active life and being consistent in creating a sustainable movement-oriented lifestyle throughout our lives is having a foundational base of movement incorporated through everything we do. 

The great news is it’s never too late to feel great, have more energy, and get significant health benefits from increasing both exercise and physical activity. It doesn’t take much to get results. 

All activity is beneficial, and the health and well-being benefits are additive. It’s like getting extra credit for having fun! 

Likewise, suppose you’ve been primarily sedentary. The good news is it’s never too late to begin being active. A great place to start is to incorporate more physical activity into your day. As you become a physically active person, you can add structured exercise activities that are higher in intensity and provide more cardiovascular fitness benefits. 

Read more here, in our last blog post.

Whether finding a foundation of increased physical activity or building on that base with a more intense, structured exercise routine, the key is to keep moving your feet. Move more and sit less.

We both love structured physical fitness activities. We aim to do cardiovascular exercises for a minimum of 60 minutes of vigorous activity or 150 minutes of moderate activity per week (learn how to tell the difference here.) But we also work hard to walk 10,000 steps per day. That’s how we monitor our daily activity and get inspired to build more movement into our day. Finding ways to get more steps in each day requires a great deal of creativity. But it’s also fun!

Check out the tips below to get started. 

Be prepared as you add more activity into your day; you’ll likely enjoy yourself so much that you’ll find yourself wanting to do more!

Start by setting a goal for yourself. Whether you want to maintain your current level of fitness and physical activity, start a new program, or kick it up a notch, you have to know where you want to go. Stay motivated by occasionally mixing up your routine or trying new activities for fun. 

Next, break down how you’re going to get there. Create your roadmap. One way to do that is by looking at the goals you set and working backward to map out the steps to get there. You’ve worked on this process before, and even though it seems simplistic, it works!

Write your goals down and keep them in a place (like your bathroom mirror or the front door) where you see them several times a day as a reminder. The actual act of writing down goals ignites an entirely new dimension of consciousness—your brain starts seeing opportunities that are difficult to attain if you're merely THINKING about your goals rather than actively doing something to achieve them. Plus, writing them down and in a place where you can see them consistently keeps you focused on what you want to accomplish and why. 

Review your progress regularly. Being active for life requires some creativity based on what activities you enjoy doing, your schedule, and what feels best for your body. Don’t worry about whether or not you did what you needed to achieve your goal yesterday. The real question is, what are you going to do to achieve your goal today? 

Reset your mindset to focus on your body’s exceptional capabilities. Just as food is sustenance and fuel to keep your body nourished, physical activity and exercise keep your body strong, healthy, and supple to support the life you want for yourself. 

Whether that is having fun with your friends, staying strong, chasing after grandkids, or keeping up with our teenagers or young adults, focus on the benefits and beauty of living an active lifestyle. Our bodies are a gift.

It is difficult to watch our parents and elders struggle with weakening bodies that are wearing out. However, research shows that physical activity and exercise significantly impact our strength and ability to remain independent and strong with more vigor and vitality until the end of our years. Now that’s something to be grateful for!

Discover the joy in the journey. Physical activity in and of itself can be fun and a means for living in the moment to create beautiful memories. 

Think of things that you can do with loved ones or friends centered around being active together that would be memorable. 

Moving more may also be a great goal to set together with others. It’s more fun to be active together, you’re more likely to both stay committed to your goals, and you’ll be supporting each other with a gift of health. 

Being active with someone else is an opportunity to connect and can be a new way of interacting. Make a date to hike through the woods to see the beauty of a waterfall at the end of the trail, learn to play pickleball with a few girlfriends, or share a bike ride with grandkids. 

Be consistent. Physical activity and exercise both have to be consistent to achieve long-term benefits. It truly is a use it or lose it proposition. 

Research shows that as humans if our physical activity is purposeful (gardening, biking/walking for transportation) and meaningful (things we enjoy such as hiking or pickleball), we are much more likely to maintain a healthy lifestyle. 

Use these tips to incorporate purposeful activity into your life. And, remember, when you’re ready, adding vigorous exercise and fitness activities can add even more health benefits. 

You can be a person that values fitness and health. If you need a reminder - keep a list of your goals, the activities you want to do, and the memories you want to create in a place where you can see them day after day. 

Rumblings’ philosophy on food, fitness, and physical activity focuses on the science and knowledge that your body is made for movement. Keeping this in mind will continually replenish your zest for life and enable you to thrive!

Want more ideas on ways to be active? Want to be inspired by other women? Join us this month as we get active together. Download our idea sheet. Follow us on social media as we post our ways to #moveinmay and #flourishafter50. 

In upcoming blog posts, we will cover how to measure if you’re getting enough physical activity and exercise, the importance of caloric balance and weight training for optimal health, and weight management for women in their prime time. Sign-up today to get more information on how to flourish after 50!

Rumble on!

Karyn and Rebecca

*Disclaimer: If you have doubts about your health, are experiencing signs or symptoms, have been previously sedentary, or are looking to alter your physical activity or intensity levels, please check with your healthcare professional.

Discover Eight Motivating Ideas to Help You to Move More and Sit Less During Midlife

As we age, we tend to get less and less physical activity and exercise. And, most of us know that exercising and being physically active has health benefits. 

Over the last year, with many exercise facilities closed and most of us working from home, it’s been even harder to live an active lifestyle. We’ve had to be more creative to find ways to engineer even the most basic activities into our days.

A recent survey conducted by 35 research organizations worldwide found that home confinement during COVID-19 negatively impacted physical activity intensity across all fitness levels. On average, the days of walking decreased by 2.45, and daily sitting time also increased from 5 hours a day to 8 hours daily. It is enough of a decrease in physical activity to cause an increase in disease and mortality rates. 

As if this wasn’t enough bad news, we also know that about half of women decrease regular exercise during middle age. At the same time, women lose lean muscle mass as they age. 

Having muscle helps us burn more calories, so losing muscle mass reduces our metabolic rate – the number of calories we burn during rest. The combined effects of decreasing activity and loss of lean body mass contribute significantly to weight gain during menopause. And, in this vicious cycle, the increased weight gain contributes to the risk of disease. Ugh!

The good news is it’s never too late to feel great, have more energy, and get significant health benefits from increasing exercise and physical activity, and it doesn’t take much to get results. 

Research shows that adults who weren’t active until later in life - after 50 - have an almost equal reduction in risk for disease and early death as adults who were always active. 

Continue your active lifestyle if you already have a routine, but remember it’s never too late to start being active or exercising. Making changes, no matter your age, can help add quality years to your life!

For cardiovascular exercise, also known as aerobic exercise, the recommended amount for optimal health is at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 60 minutes of vigorous activity per week. That translates to 30 minutes a day, either five days a week for moderate-intensity or 30 minutes of vigorous exercise 3 days per week. 

Moderate-intensity activities include walking, biking, stair walking, or dancing. Vigorous-intensity activities include things like tennis, running, or jumping rope. 

To help you quickly gauge your intensity level, you can use the talk test. 

During moderate-intensity activity, you should be slightly out of breath but able to speak a few sentences at a time. Think of a brisk-paced walk with a friend. 

During vigorous activity, you may find it more challenging to speak in complete sentences, but it still feels comfortable to continue. 

There are other ways to monitor exercise amounts to ensure you’re meeting the minimum health and weight maintenance levels. You can use a heart rate monitor, smartwatch, or fitness tracker to measure your heart rate and target heart rate zone. You can also aim for burning 1000-2000 calories through physical activity per week. 

Some people find calorie counting an easier way of tracking the amount of activity completed if they use exercise equipment or other calorie counters to monitor dietary intake. 

To achieve higher fitness levels or additional weight loss, you can increase your minutes of exercise, set a goal for also doing 10,000 steps, or find ways to add extra activity into your day. Little things like gardening, parking in the far corners of the parking lot, taking the stairs, or taking ten-minute walking breaks throughout the day add up!

Both physical activity and cardiovascular (aerobic) activity are essential. Recent research emphasizes just how vital moving throughout the day is for longevity. 

If you think this is all excellent information on what you need to do for exercise and physical activity, but believe it’s all easier said than done, you’re not alone!

Modern conveniences of living have engineered activity out of our days, so it’s harder to stay active year after year. Think about it; you don’t have to get out of your car to pick up food, dry-cleaning, money from the bank, medications, and even a bottle of wine. We have to work harder to design an active lifestyle. 

You can do some simple practices to help build additional activity and exercise into your routine and stick with it.

• Prioritize physical activity and exercise in your life. Make it essential by adding it to your calendar, and like any other important meeting, don’t schedule over it or work through it.

• Be consistent. Things get in the way of developing habits, but going back, again and again, is part of what makes it stick. On the days you lack motivation, make a pact with yourself to do at least 10 minutes of some physical activity. Stretch, do yoga, or yard work to get moving. Committing to a minimum of 10 minutes of activity, you’ll get started to build consistency in your routine and will often end up doing more than 10 minutes. 

• Have a routine. Block your calendar, have a daily structured routine for activity. Are you a morning exerciser, or are you more consistent in scheduling your activity after work? Pick a time of day that works better for you. Make a plan for what you will do when things derail your best intentions. 

• Make exercise and physical activity a social outing with friends or family. Women often sacrifice their own needs to put others first. Make a date with other people to be active, and you’ll be more likely to prioritize the activity and help others get active too.

• Find the right environment. Belonging to a gym or fitness center where you feel comfortable, feeling safe in your neighborhood if you walk after dark, and inclement climate and weather are all factors that impact the desire to be active. Trying to find alternatives to minimize these influences is important. 

• Focus on the health benefits of being active. Write how you feel after being active in a journal, on a post-it note, or in your calendar. It will help you focus on the benefits of being active and why you want to be more active.

• Discover your internal motivation. Do you feel euphoric after exercising? Are you experiencing a sense of accomplishment from staying committed to your goals? Has your time spent being physically active or exercising become a time of mediation or stress reduction for you? Whatever your internal motivation is, write it down and revisit your reasons often. When you lack the motivation to be active, review your list of inspirations. Internal motivation will keep you going for the long term.  

• Delete what you don’t enjoy! If you’re doing an activity you don’t enjoy, pick a different activity. There are countless ways to exercise and be physically active. You won’t stick with something that makes you miserable. Want more ideas on ways to be active? Want to be inspired by other women? Join us this month as we get active together. Download our idea sheet. Follow us on social media as we post our ways to #moveinmay and #flourishafter50. 

As we age and start to experience aches and pains, it’s natural to want to sit and rest. However, the key to living a long, healthy, and independent life with the ability to enjoy ourselves to the fullest is to sit less and move more!

In upcoming blog posts, we will cover simple ways to fit more activity into your days, the importance of caloric balance and weight training for optimal health, and weight management for women in their prime time. To learn more, sign-up today.

Rumble on!

Karyn and Rebecca

Go Inward: Find Calm in Chaos

The benefits of meditation manifest through practice.

We have all heard about the benefits of meditation. Quieting your mind and going inward can improve stress, anxiety, sleep, attention, self awareness, age-related memory loss, mood, and compassion. However, for many women sitting still with themselves isn’t easy.  We are too busy or cannot quiet our minds. 

We invited Sydney Holly, owner of Kula Yoga in Minneapolis, to share tips and techniques for going inward during a Rumblings community virtual event. She didn’t disappoint. During the session, we learned the value of daily practice for cultivating self acceptance and calmness as we moved through meditation together. 

If you weren’t able to attend in person, or did attend and want to be reminded of her wisdom, we summarized and condensed Sydney’s advice for finding calm in the midst of chaos into the key takeaways below. 

There is value in coming together in community. 

For those of you who don't know, the word Kula actually means community. When Sydney first had the opportunity to take over yoga space from a previous owner, she hesitated because she wasn’t a business person and owning a studio didn’t appeal to her. However, what did appeal to her was the idea of community. She wanted to maintain the existing community and to teach so she eventually said yes to the offer, but decided the studio name had to be different. Because she felt like she was in this together with her students, the name became Kula.  

“I feel like that's exactly what Karyn and Rebecca are putting together (with Rumblings)— ways for people to find community.” 

Sydney Holly, owner Kula Yoga

Community has been important since human beings have been in existence. We create our own sisterhood and that sisterhood gives us much needed buoyancy. 

The benefits of meditation manifest through practice.

For Sydney, there is no separation between the meditative and physical practices of yoga.  As we move, we work through some of the more esoteric kinds of yoga philosophies so that we can really be in ourselves. When you watch babies and children play they don't stop to contemplate or think, right? They don't wait for everything to slow down. Instead, they're finding joy being in their routine and in their movement.

If you don't have a yoga mat, that's fine. If you don’t have yoga clothes, it doesn’t matter. Take the pressure off yourself. Often, something that comes along with meditation is the pressure to be “good at it”. There is a similar pressure with yoga. The truth is, there's no such thing as being good at meditating or good at yoga. Just being is the important part.

Remember that the meditation benefits aren’t just a theory. The benefits manifest in practice. Invite the healing prana, that healing breath, into every cell of your being while you practice. Your mantra is the sound of the breath going in and out through the nose.

“Do your practice and all is coming.”

Sri K. Pattabi Jois, Founder of Ashtanga Yoga

As women we question ourselves, right? And, we spend time really wondering and wondering and wondering. The more time you spend on your mat— in yoga, in Asana, in meditation—the more the answers are revealed because you already have them all inside of you. 

As human beings, we tend to get stuck in our heads. Yogis call this the Vritti or the chatter of the mind. As human beings, we want to live in our soul. Our Ātman is our inner self, spirit, or soul. The idea is to get to our inner essence and to tap into the subtle form of radiance, health, immunity, and longevity within ourselves. 

Wholehearted living means total, complete, and radical self compassion and self love. 

With each yoga practice, it is important to set an intention. We call it Sankalpa, which translates to seed of intent or a positive thought that we want to manifest in the world, a promise we make to ourselves. That sounds really nice, doesn't it? You plant a seed. You have an intention. You water it every day. You give it some sunshine. You love it. Then it flourishes and you're living the life of your dreams. 

If it were only that easy. Along with our Sankalpa—our seed of intent— is all of the work it takes to nurse that state of intent. The tricky part is that in conjunction with the light there's the darkness—Vikalpa, the shadow side of your intention. In yoga we're not working with good, or bad, but instead yin and yang. The union of opposites yields wholeness. 

“Wholehearted living is about engaging with our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion and connection to wake up in the morning and think, ‘No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough.’ It’s going to bed at night thinking, ‘Yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging.”  

Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

Wholeheartedness means total, complete, and radical self compassion and self love. You can't just say to yourself you are ok if you are at 90% right now in your self compassion and self love. It must be 100% - accepting that the Vikalpa goes along with the Sankalpa in the way that we actually get to manifest more intentional living. The Vikalpa might show up as a distraction, dreaming, an excuse, negative self talk, or as really punishing behavior —as in who do I think I am that I know how to meditate or how selfish I am  to practice. Total complete radical 100% self acceptance and self love is what invites us to then say to ourselves, that this is just part of the process. This is the way it goes. 

“We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can relax with paradox and ambiguity.” 

Pema Chödrön

Pema Chödrön is a wonderful Buddhist monk. She talks a lot about the middle way. The middle way is the yoga path. The yogi practices the middle way because extremes - the highs and lows or the likes and dislikes - only feed your ego. Then your ego starts to become a limiting factor for your freedom. 

Your freedom is where the joy happens—that's where the manifestation of the life you really want happens, because you're able to not only remember who you are, but you're able to remember that your journey is what makes you who you are. The journey is part of your whole hearted existence -  it is100% radical, complete self love and self acceptance. 

“Have you ever wondered why it's so hard to change? It's probably because you're missing one key ingredient—self compassion. Usually we try to make change in our lives by pushing ourselves, judging ourselves, and then beating ourselves up when we don't succeed. But science shows that shame shuts down the learning centers of the brain. What this means is that every time we judge ourselves, we are robbing ourselves of the very resources we need to change and live a happier life. The surprising solution is self compassion. When you treat yourself with kindness, you turn on the learning centers of the brain and give yourself the resources you need to change. This is what leads us to greater calm, clarity and joy.” 

Shauna Shapiro, PhD

Yoga is a tool that can lead us on a different path. 

That's why even a really brief, gentle breathing, and movement can shift you. It can bring up feelings of frustration and maybe a little uncertainty. But, it definitely pulled you into the moment. 

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.” 

Viktor Frankl 

Think about your yoga or meditation practice as a pause. Our world is beyond uncertain right now. Our trust levels are super low. The middle way is to be able to say I know who I am authentically. The gritty chatter of my mind does not define me. 

Make a commitment to start practicing.

Just start. Choose something that fits into the routine you already have. Everyone wakes up and goes to bed. Take two minutes before you get out of bed, pull your knees to your chest, take three deep breaths, and say good morning. I am here. I am grateful. I am worthy. I am evolving. I am compassionate. 

If you don't feel like meditation is for you or you feel inauthentic doing it, keep practicing. It's ok not to feel connected with the practice right away. It doesn't mean you'll continue to feel that way. The more you practice. The more important your yoga becomes in your life and yet the less seriously you take it. Just show up. 

On December 6, a group of women showed up and let our practice work its magic on us. We practiced radical, complete, and whole hearted self love and self acceptance. As we did that, we affirmed who we are, where we are, and what's important to us.  

Our practice isn’t done, the more you begin to be still with yourself and move, you will intuitively begin to trust yourself.