Staying Fit During Back-to-School Transition

Move over summer…it’s back to school again. Getting back to the daily grind of homework, schedules and less free time for all can be an adjustment for all. Staying active and exercising can be even more challenging.
You may be tempted to hold out and wait for the perfect time to exercise but, believe it or not, it'll be a lot easier if you start right now.
Plan Ahead
Any parent knows that planning and preparation can make the difference between semi-control and utter disaster. Giving exercise that same kind of effort can help you make it happen:

• Make a weekly calendar of work, family and other responsibilities so you know what's on your plate.
• Look for times you can squeeze in exercise. Doing shorter workouts throughout the day can be as effective as continuous exercise. Even if you only find 10 minutes here or there, that's 10 minutes you'll be moving instead of sitting.
• Plan what you'll do and gather what you need the night before. Pack your gym bag or put your exercise clothes next to the bed so you can put them on as soon as you get up.
• Integrate exercise with other activities. If your child is at soccer or football practice, use the time to jog or walk around the field. If you're at the mall, add a few laps of walking to burn extra calories.
• Set up a home gym. Even if you prefer a health club, having some basic equipment available (think resistance bands, an exercise ball and some dumbbells) as well as a few quality workout videos means you're always ready for a workout.

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• Keep extra gear at work or in the car. If you can find a few minutes at lunch or on the way home from work, squeeze in a quick walk at a nearby park or around the parking lot.

Get Motivated
Planning and preparation means nothing if you aren't motivated to exercise. Finding motivation is simpler than you think, especially if you realize that there are many good reasons to exercise. Plus, there are some other ways you can encourage yourself to stick with your workout:
Get a Pedometer
If you haven't tried a pedometer, you'll be amazed at how motivating it can be. You probably already know that experts recommend walking 10,000 steps a day and you wouldn't believe how hard that is if you have a sedentary job. Clip a pedometer to your belt, and you'll instantly walk more just to meet your goal for the day.
Consider Partner Training
A personal trainer can be a huge motivator, but many people are put off by the cost. One option is partner training, which costs less than one-on-one training. By enlisting a friend to do it with you, you'll have added accountability to exercise.
Use Your Imagination
Too often, people have narrow definitions of what exercise is, as though only certain things "count." For many people, that means if it doesn't last an hour or leave you breathless and sweaty, it isn't good enough. It's that kind of thinking that can limit your options so, open your mind and look for new ways to be active. I once had a neighbor who did walking lunges when she went out to get the paper. Another friend did push-ups while waiting for dinner to cook. A client of mine made it a rule that the whole family had to take a walk every night after dinner. Anything can be a workout if you work hard enough at it.
Create Efficient Workouts
Another way to motivate yourself is to create a workout schedule that fits in your life. If you plan long workouts that never seem to materialize, it's time to create workouts that make sense. If you're short on time, stick with strength training moves that give you more bang for your buck. Compound movements that work multiple muscle groups will help you save time as well as add functionality to your workouts.
The following exercises target multiple muscle groups to help you save time. To make a quick workout, do each exercise, one after the other, for 1 set of 16 reps, using enough weight that you can ONLY complete 16 reps. If you have time at the end, repeat the circuit.

• Squats
• Lunges
• Deadlifts
• Pushups
• Dumbbell Rows
• Tricep Dips

For cardio, increase the intensity for shorter workouts. Think of it this way: The shorter the workout, the harder you can exercise. If you only have 20 minutes, exercise at a higher intensity than usual or try interval training.
Whatever you do, don't wait until later to get back to your exercise routine. The longer you wait, the harder it gets and the more you get used to life without it. Make a commitment and do something today. It's never too late to get started.
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How Getting and Staying Fit Changes in Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

Your body—and fitness—changes a lot sooner than you thought. Read on to learn when you burn the most calories, if your muscle is already waning, and how you can become fitter, stronger, and faster with every decade.
In Your 20s...
Your Body's Built for Exercise
The 20s are prime time for fitness. (Okay, maybe you’ve gained a few pounds since you ran high school track, but some of that weight is probably from muscle.) That’s because, during your 20s, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, human growth hormone, and thyroid hormone are all working together to keep you in tip-top baby-making shape. As an added bonus, they improve your body’s muscle-building power, she says.Meanwhile, during your 20s, you are at your peak cardiorespiratory capability, says board-certified internist Sue Decotiis, M.D., a medical weight-loss and bioidenticial hormone-replacement therapy expert in New York City. Bring on the endurance races.
But Your Metabolism Is Already Slowing
Womp, womp. After 20, the average basal metabolic rate (BMR), the number of calories you’d burn if you stayed in bed all day, drops by one to two percent per decade, according to the American Council on Exercise. Most of that dip may be due to the unfortunate fact that when most women and men enter the “real world,” they sit at a desk more and walk around less. At any age, increasing your activity levels and muscle mass can help keep your BMR high. Muscle makes up a large part of your body’s “engine,” so the more muscle you have, the more fuel you’ll burn, whether you are hanging out with friends or powering through a workout.
In Your 30s...
DHEA Declines
Levels of this guy, which is a precursor to both estrogen and testosterone, peak in your 20s and start tapering off once you hit the big 3-0. While it’s not clear if DHEA supplementation can have any effect on anti-aging, according to the National Institute on Aging, the loss of DHEA as you age may slow your exercise recovery time and increase your body’s muscle-to-fat ratio, says Decottis. To help combat fat gain, focus on strength training. In a new study from Harvard University, men who lifted weights each day for 20 minutes put on less belly fat as they aged compared to guys who spent the same amount of time doing cardio.
Babies Block Your Workout
With your doctor’s permission, you can keep up your workout routine with a bun in the oven. But pregnancy is not the time to start a high-intensity training program. Your body is going through enough changes as it is. During pregnancy, your hormones shift, and your body focuses the bulk of its energy on the pregnancy, not your muscles, says Kaehler. After the baby comes, breastfeeding can burn crazy calories, which helps some women lose the pregnancy weight. But still, it’s not the right time to push your workout to the max, says Hamilton. “Trying to train at a high level immediately after giving birth is risky because hormones are not balanced back to ‘normal’ as long as you’re breastfeeding," she says. "I’ve seen an increased incidence of stress fractures in women who push to train at a high level during the postpartum period. I recommend training be moderated until after breastfeeding has ceased and normal menstruation has returned, which to me signals that the woman’s hormonal balance is back.” Once your baby has permanently detached from your nipples, though, you can crank up your workout’s intensity.
In Your 40s...
Sarcopenia Sets In
A fancy word for muscle loss, sarcopenia is a natural part of the aging process—but it still sucks. While it doesn’t hit full force until around 75, The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging suggests that it can start as early as 40. Researchers believe most muscle loss comes from your fast-twitch muscle fibers, the ones that are responsible for powering high-intensity, largely anaerobic exercise. “In order to minimize the effects of sarcopenia, it is helpful to do strength training, which recruits different muscle fibers [your fast-twitch ones], compared to endurance training activities like biking, swimming, and running," as those train your slow-twitch, endurance-focused ones, says Hamilton. Increasing your protein intake may also help. Eating twice the current RDA of protein (1.5 grams instead of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight) increases the rates of muscle growth and lessens muscle breakdown due to aging, according to research from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
You Enter Perimenopause
Menopause isn’t an on-off phenomenon. It happens gradually, typically in the 40s (or sometimes even earlier) with perimenopause. Common symptoms, like irregular periods, are due to fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone, which can also cause weight gain and a lower metabolism, says Decottis. What’s more, during perimenopause, insomnia and night sweats can make finding the energy to work out more challenging, says Hamilton. Still, continuing to exercise will not only help you feel younger—after all, exercise can ease your hot flashes and sleep troubles—it may help you look and perform even better than you did at 20. “Some women don’t even start training until later in life,” says Hamilton. “Whatever your age, you can improve your fitness.”

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