Fitness Friday: Pumping Iron

Fitness Friday returns today with a little bit of preaching -- but mostly at myself. I know I need to, I know I should, but I HATE doing resistance exercises. (Muscle work: lifting weights, calisthenics, exercise bands, etc.) And, basically, if you're old enough to read this, you should be doing them, too! Women get the most press about it, because resistance exercises not only strengthen muscles but can build bone density as well. This is obviously important for any female beyond puberty, but it's important for men, as well. All of us are aging!

Muscles are use-it-or-lose-it things. One study found that 2/3 of women 75 years and older can't lift a 10 pound bag of groceries. I don't want to be that woman! Studies are also finding that muscle weakness isn't a direct function of aging -- it's a direct function of inactivity. Later in life we are no longer lifting toddlers, children, dogs, and massive amounts of groceries. So we need to be lifting some weights!

The good news about lifting weights is that it doesn't require nearly the amount of time that cardio exercise does to reap benefits. In 15 minutes you can get a full-body workout that is plenty for building muscle mass. And, no, in 15 minutes, 3 times a week, you will NOT look like Hillary Swank in "Million Dollar Baby" -- and not come anywhere close to Arnold Schwarzenegger. But every year that you celebrate a birthday on this planet you are losing muscle mass unless you are actively fighting to retain it. So, I'm SAYING 'build muscle mass' but you should be hearing 'just barely hanging on to what you have'.

Besides strengthening bones, muscle is good for boosting metabolism. And as we age, we all need that, right? Yes, we do! Because as muscle mass decreases (which it will) your metabolism slows down. Then you have a spare tire you didn't ask for, even without increasing your caloric intake!

Okay, okay, you're saying! So I need to keep up my muscles! What do I do? It is SO easy (at my house, we always quote the Nutri System commercial in our thickest southern accent: "It's so simple!"). If you have nothing and no money, you can do:

• push ups
  
• wall sits
  
• crunches for abs
  
• tricep dips (though you do have to have a chair for this)
  

All of those can be done and modified -- remember that ANYTHING is better than nothing. But if you aren't 'feelin' the burn' (as in, difficult to complete 15) then you need to move on to either more or add weights to it. Then, you can VERY inexpensively invest in some small equipment if you choose. It's easy to find and inexpensive. You can get:

• exercise bands




• exercise ball




• hand weights

Most of these things should come with instructions. If not, I will post some specifics later.

Also, the following sites have some great info:

Exercise ball workouts

Exercises to combat osteoporosis

Interesting info

Pump some iron, stay healthy, and be fit!