Snow day workout for the next 3 days

So, in case you haven’t noticed, there has been a record snow fall in the here in the DC metro area over the past few days and the forecast says “Snow…lots of snow”. Again. But while all your friends seem to be posting status updates on Facebook about lounging on the couch under a blanket binge-watching TV, you are feeling like Jack Torrance in The Shining. Your car is buried under a foot of snow, it’s leg day, and your gym is closed.

So I put together a nice little workout for you do do right here in the house.  Before we move any further go to the Google Play Store and get an app called "Tabata Pro", you will be using that timer app for your workout.   I will not bother to post pictures of the exercises that you do not recognize the name, its 2016 just Google it.

Aerobic Conditioning Workout

 Jumping Jacks
 Lunges
 Push Ups
The Tabata timer will tell you when to start and stop

More Pure Cardio Moves (Perform any 2 of these per Tabata workout)

Jog in Place
High Knees
Figure Skaters
Mountain Climbers
Jump Rope

Workout with Weights (No Tabata needed)

15 reps 2-3x each exercise
Tricep kickbacks
Shoulder Flys
Weighted Arm Raises
Bicep Curl & Press
Triceps Extensions
Shrugs
Shoulder Presses

Arms & Abs Floor Workout

20 Plank Knee to Elbow
15 Single Leg Dips
15 Extended Crunches
10 Right Side Plank & Touch
10 Left Side Plank & Touch
20 Bicycle Crunches

Lower Body Exercises (Have fun with these)

Squats (add up to 100 total)
Lunges  3 x 15
Single leg dead lift 3 x 20
Side to Side Lunges 3 x 15
Bridges 4 x 45 seconds
1 Leg Bridges 4 x 30 seconds
Leg Lifts 4 x 25
Wall Sits 4 x 45 seconds

1000 Abs & Core

Reverse Crunches
Straight Leg Crunches
Butterfly Twists
Russian Twists
Scissor Crunches
Flutter Kicks
Spiderman Planks
Plank Crunches
Bicycle Crunches
Thread the Needle
6 Inches Hold

Tabata Upper Body Workout

Push-ups
Triceps Dips
Planks
Elbow Planks
Chaturanga Pushups
Side Planks
Up & Down Planks
Walkout Pushups
Plank Jacks

If you have any questions just look outside...............

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How long should a workout last?

As gyms around the country gets ready for this "Easter Sunday" like influx  what I like like to call "newbies" hitting the gym, it is wise know know a few facts.  Sometimes taking on exercise is a lot more complicated than it seems. Making that decision to start and making the commitment to continue is hard enough on its own let along the rest. Even if you do get there, then it is all the questions about what type of exercise you should follow, how intense, what time and for how long. Going to the gym and getting good fitness or weight loss results is usually connected with the ‘no pain no gain’ belief. So I am not surprised that people can actually go and spend hours sweating and fighting with weights and machines. Do you really need to do all that or could you have got away with and even get better results with shorter workouts?

Working out for weight loss

Exercise 60-90 minutes per day and lose weight
Some studies recommend that in order to lose weight workouts should be around 60-90mi per day. According to the ACSM if you want to sustain the weight then your exercise time should be at around 200-300min (3.3-5 h) per week. Not impossible as it could be as little as 30 – 45 min workouts per day.
Physiological factors do matter
A 2003 study compared exercise in different intensities and duration and the effect they had in weight loss. Their results indicate that all workouts had no significant difference in their results in terms of weight loss in a 12month period. They also found that physiological components such as cardio-respiratory fitness, showed similar improvements. Now this is a point which is argued by a number of other studies.
High Intensity Workouts burn more calories
On a different note some studies suggest that actually split short sessions at high intensity are better for weight loss. In simple words if you do 2 sessions of 30min a day rather than 1 of 60min will help in burning more calories. The same is argued for high intensity workouts. A lot of these arguments are based on the theory that this kind of exercise will result in burning more calories during rest. Again there is a lot of controversy around all that and there isn’t one clear and certain answer whether that is actually working.

Long workouts vs. short bursts

Short workouts are better for muscle building
Independent of weight loss some studies and ‘experts’ argue that short bursts of exercise may be better for muscle building and general health. The argument is that during long duration aerobic exercise for example running for hours, the body releases stress hormones and more specifically high amounts of cortisol. The argument with cortisol is that it leads to breaking down muscle and so have the opposite from the desired result.
Long workouts can be stressful
As with everything else it doesn’t come without disagreements. Some people argue that the effects of cortisol can be blunted by making sure there is enough glucose (sugar) in the body, others are adamant that you are doomed with the long aerobic workouts. It is generally accepted that long workouts can be quite stressful for the body and also that they can affect the immune system and in return can lead to over-training.

How long is too much?
However, one thing to keep in mind is how long is too much for the body. If you are a marathon runner and you train for 3 hours every day then that can be too long and too stressful for your body. If you spend 30min running 2-3 times a week well that may not be the end of the world and you will not necessarily see your muscles eaten away by cortisol.
Challenge your body for better results
Finally, when you follow exercise you have to remember that your body will need to have the adequate challenge in order to keep its fitness. If you go on the bike and you do exactly the same thing for months after a while you will actually see your muscles disappear. Changing the workout, mixing exercises and intensities and challenging your body are all necessary.

How long should a workout be? 10 Tips to help you decide

So still none the wiser of how long should a workout be. To summarize all of the above in terms of the everyday person we have gathered a few points.

1. If you never exercised before in your life it may be better to start with short bursts of workouts so that your body gets used to exercise. The national guidelines suggest 150min a week as a minimum for health reasons. These could easily be broken to 25min workouts 6 days a week and one day of rest.
2. In terms of weight loss most studies suggest that you can get the same benefits with short workouts as well as with long ones. If you can get the same result in half the time it does make sense to go with short 45-60min workouts than spend hours in the gym. It makes even more sense if exercise is not your favorite activity or your time is limited. *When you are thinking of any workout do make sure you include warming up and cooling down time. For example if you follow a 60min class it would have 5-10min warm and cool down time so your main workout is about 45-50min.
3. Running marathons may not be a wise idea as you could be placing quite a lot of stress in your body.
4. The intensity of exercise and the type of exercise could affect the result so it is not all about how long. The general norm is to aim for high intensity short workouts. Well high intensity long workouts can be hard to sustain and could be a recipe for injuries.
5. Continuing from point number 4. If you spend 2 hours in the gym watching the news on the treadmill while walking, hardly pushing the pedals of the bike while chatting on the phone and taking more breaks than exercise, it does not qualify as a long duration workout. So what do you actually do during the time you exercise can be as important as how long you exercise for.
6. Adequate nutrition, rest, etc will also play a role in whether you should opt for long or short workouts. If you do decide to opt for long duration aerobic exercise then make sure you are have the adequate carbohydrate fueling.
7. The best exercise is the one that suits your lifestyle and you are likely to stick with. If you only have 1 hr 2times a week and you know you will stick to it then go for it. If you have 30min a day then go for that.
8. It is always good to mix intensities and types of workouts. Interval training is considered to be quite good as it provides high intensity and low intensity workout mixed with aerobic and resistance type of exercises. However, exercise can be anything you like and suits you be it playing football with friends in the park, going to the gym, going for zumba or pole dancing or cycling to work. Doing something is a lot more important than fussing about which work out is the best.
9. Always ask your doctor before taking on any exercise especially if you have pre-existing health conditions and/or complains. It is also recommended that you advise a fitness professional to make sure you are working on your own level and ability and to avoid any injuries.
10. Still not sure? The following diagram will help you decide 

 

What does research say?

Scientists and governments have actually sat down and looked through the different studies and then have drawn what they call official guidelines about exercise. What these mean is the minimum combinations of elements of exercise such as intensity and duration by which you will get a result. Now to make something very clear; even if all you can do is walk around the block once a week is better that not moving at all. So don’t give it up thinking that you are not doing anything. No you will not get fit or lose weight really but you will benefit in other ways.
More or less the same guidelines are provided by the American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM) and the National Health System (NHS) in Britain. The ACSM updated the guidelines in 2011 with hardly any changes.
A few points to keep in mind:
1. They are guidelines; which means they are not a setting stone of what you should do.
2. They are drawn after a number of people have looked at studies and research and made these conclusions based on what the studies and research say.
3. They are flexible in how long each workout should be. They actually do say that, if you can exercise for 10min x 2 times per day, is as good as doing 30min in one go.
4. They are based on promoting health.
5. The actual amount of time they recommend (300⁺ min per week) may be too much for some people especially if you are novice in exercising.The Bottom Line

Get with a trainer, we can start you off with a program that best fits you.  Some of us will even tell you the truth about being realistic about your commitments (see the past newsletters). 

Thanks for reading..........

How to Stay Fit During the Holidays When Our Lives Don't Slow Down

The holidays are a time to celebrate, and boy, do we make the most of it. We eat, we drink, we indulge and then we end up feeling like bloated whales by the time it's all over. It's almost an unspoken rule that, with the holidays, comes unlimited eating and skipped workouts, but this year, you have a choice.
You don't have to let every party become your own personal eating contest, and you don't have to let shopping take the place of your usual exercise routine.

All it takes is flexibility, creativity and a new way of defining exercise.

Keep Moving
It's tempting to ditch your workouts as your days fill up with holiday preparations, parties and errands, but now more than ever, you need to stay active. Exercise will help you deal with added stress and give you energy for everything you need to accomplish.

It will also help you manage your weight through the maze of parties and gatherings you'll be attending. If you have trouble sticking with your usual routine this time of year, come up with a new one. Forget the rules, lower your standards and do whatever you need to do to keep moving:

• Shorten Your Cardio. Pare down your cardio routine to whatever time you have, even if it's only 5 or 10 minutes. Choose activities that are easy to do at a moment's notice: walking, running, jump roping or cycling. Get the most out of the time you have by working at a high intensity. This sample 10-minute workout is a great place to start:0:00 to 1:00 - Warm up with a brisk walk (outside or around the house)
  1:00 to 2:00 - Jumping jacks
  2:00 to 3:00 - Jump rope (pretend if you don't have a rope)
  3:00 to 4:00 - Run as fast as you can for 1 minute (in place or outside)
  4:00 to 5:00 - Speed skaters (Side to side skips)
  5:00 to 6:00 - Jumping jacks
  6:00 to 7:00 - Walk as fast as you can
  7:00 to 8:00 - Jump rope
  8:00 to 9:00 - Jumping jacks
  9:00 to 10:00 - Cool down and catch your breath
  Remember to work hard. Keep your perceived exertion at 8 or 9 for the entire workout.

• Exercise wherever and whenever you can. You already know to take the stairs, park far away and so on to get more exercise. This holiday season, wear a pedometer as you're running around, and see how many steps you can accumulate. Use every opportunity to get in more movement, whether it's parking on the opposite side of where you need to be or chopping down your own Christmas tree.
• Make it a family affair. As you gather together with your family, plan active things to do. Walk around the neighborhood to look at holiday decorations. Play football before the big meal at Thanksgiving or Christmas. Plan contests with the kids to see who can run the farthest or who can do the most push-ups. Challenge everyone to a snow-shoveling contest, and then build a snow person out of the remains.
• Don't forget strength training. Maintain your muscle mass by paring down your routine to the basics. Choose compound, multi-joint movements to make sure you're getting the most out of your time. And, don't worry, you don't need any equipment to get a great workout. 
• Control Your Eating  Eating yourself into a coma seems inevitable during the holidays, what with all the yummy delights available. Treating every party as if it's an invitation to indulge, however, is a sure way to add pounds. Below are a few reminders for keeping the calories in check:

• Eat Before You Go. Rules to live by: never go grocery shopping while hungry, and similarly, never hit a holiday party on an empty stomach. You'll be less tempted to overindulge if your belly's full of something healthy.
• Choose One Treat. Once at the party, choose one thing to indulge in and make it good. No chips -- you can have those any old time. Pick something you only get during the holidays.
• Control Your Drinking. Alcohol is an easy way to consume more calories than you need, so avoid mixed or fruity drinks, and have a glass of water for every drink you consume. Also, definitely avoid the egg nog; it has up to 350 calories a cup.
• Don't Skip Meals. It's tempting to skip meals to make up for whatever nightmare food you'll eat later, but just like the empty-stomach rule, if you're starving, your rational mind will be unavailable for healthy food choices. Eat small meals all day to avoid going nuts at the buffet table.

However you deal with the holidays, make this the year that you don't gain extra weight. Make a decision to do everything you can to stay active and eat healthy while not depriving yourself of all the fun. Like everything else in life, it's all about moderation.

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6 Things You Did Today That Ruined Your Metabolism

Metabolism. It’s the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within the cells of living organisms. It’s such a big concept that you might believe you’re at the mercy of it. Well, you are! It’s thermodynamics at work, after all. But there are a bunch of simple — even easy — things you can do to boost your metabolism and make your body run more efficiently. Make tomorrow a great day by learning from the common metabolism mistakes you probably made today.

1. You didn’t get a good night’s sleep

If you're chronically sleep deprived, don’t be surprised if you gain a few pounds without eating a morsel of extra food. “A lack of sleep can cause several metabolic problems,” says nutritionist Seth Santoro. “It can cause you to burn fewer calories, lack appetite control and experience an increase in cortisol levels, which stores fat.” Lack of sufficient sleep — which experts say is 7 to 9 hours a night for most people — also leads to impaired glucose tolerance, a.k.a. your body's ability to utilize sugar for fuel. “We all have those less-than-adequate nights of sleep,” says nutritionist Lisa Jubilee. “But if it's a regular thing, you're better off lengthening your night's sleep than working out, if fat loss or weight maintenance is your goal.”

2. You started your day dehydrated

For Jubilee, one of the best and cheapest ways to give your metabolism a jolt is to drink water (she suggests 20 to 32 ounces) shortly after waking. Why? During sleep, your body’s metabolic function slowed, and unless you woke up in the middle of the night to swig some water, it didn’t receive any fluids. Jubilee suggests completely rehydrating before stressing your body with any other food or drink. “My clients who have implemented this report less bloating, more energy and a smaller appetite,” she says. Her motto for getting your inner furnace stoked and ready for the day: “Rehydrate, then caffeinate!”

3. You drank too much caffeine

Plenty of studies indicate that caffeine can boost your metabolism in the AM. But nutritionist Amy Shapiro says that guzzling coffee and other caffeinated drinks all day could actually work against you. Caffeine is a natural appetite suppressant. If you’re constantly consuming it, you may not eat much — or realize how hungry you really are — until you get home for dinner. “Not eating enough throughout the day can make your metabolism sluggish,” she says. “By the time you eat dinner, instead of immediately using that food for energy, your body is aggressively storing it as fat, just in case it will be deprived again.”

4. You sit too much

Ideally, we sleep about eight hours for every 24. Most people spend another seven to ten hours sitting at their desk. That means most of us spend the overwhelming majority of our time sedentary. Our bodies weren't designed for this level of inactivity — most of humans’ evolutionary history involved being active, searching for food and fuel. Jubilee says that one way to burn more calories daily is to stand more and sit less. She cites a British study which found that standing at work burned 50 more calories per hour than sitting. If that doesn’t sound like a lot, consider this: If you stand for just three hours of your day, in one year you’d expend more than 30,000 extra calories — which amounts to about 8 lbs of fat! Another good office habit: Set a phone timer to remind you get up every hour and walk around, even for a few minutes, says Jubilee.

5. You didn’t eat organic

“Hormones dictate how our body utilizes the energy we give it,” says Jubilee. “Between our reproductive, thyroid and growth hormones, appetite, insulin and hunger hormones — leptin and ghrelin — our bodies have to perform a tricky balancing act to keep us lean, energized and viable reproductive beings.” Those tasks have become much more difficult because of the hormone residues we consume via cage-raised foods. If you want to give your metabolism a leg up, Jubilee says, switch to organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised beef, eggs and dairy products, thereby avoiding those nasty hormones at mealtime.

6. You ate too many calories too late in the day

“Not eating enough calories in a day is an easy way to slow your metabolism,” says Santoro. “It’s a common mistake people make.” When you don’t consume enough calories, your body switches into starvation mode, and your brain tells your body to store fat. This can increase cortisol levels, leading to belly-fat storage, which comes with health risks.
“Eating a large dinner, especially too close to bedtime, can be detrimental to your metabolism,” says Shapiro. “It’s likely to throw off your inner clock and make you not hungry in the morning, which can ultimately lead to weight gain.” It’s at this point in the day that people are more likely to have an alcoholic beverage, which can bedevil your metabolism even more. “When a person drinks, acetate is formed,” says Santoro. “The body spends time trying to detoxify itself rather than burn calories.” He adds that drinking alcohol can impair protein synthesis and anabolic (muscle-building) hormones. Shapiro suggests that you prepare for busy or unpredictable days by packing healthy snacks to keep you from overeating or making unhealthful food choices.
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Lets Look At Some Ways Muscle Can Change How You View Yourself

To be committed to your fitness, you have to strength train. Cardio is great, but you need muscles for your metabolism to be fired up and to get a strong body. The more muscle you have, the more equipped your body is for your workouts, athletic events, and everyday movements (functional fitness). So, if you aren’t strength training, it’s never too late to start. If you are currently weight training, did you know building muscle can actually change how you view yourself?

Here are four ways strength training does more for you than you might think:

1) Muscle makes you feel mentally strong. When you use your bodyweight, hand weights, circuit machines, and muscle-building tools like resistance bands, kettlebells or exercise balls, you are building your physical strength. But something else is happening too. As you work on getting a stronger body, it immediately translates into feeling more mentally strong. You are respecting your body and taking care of it well. As you see your progress with endurance or lifting heavier weights, you start to see yourself as a strong person. When your thoughts are: “I am strong,” you feel more mentally tough too. You are establishing resilience and grit. You become better equipped for the challenges that pop up in your life outside of the gym.
2) Muscle gives you proof of your workouts. We all gravitate toward immediate gratification. We want to do a workout and see proof in the mirror the next day, but we all know it takes more than one workout to see results.

When you weight train regularly, you will begin to see differences in your body. Muscle takes up less volume than fat, so strength training regularly can really sculpt and tone your body. If you consistently workout with weights, you develop muscles you couldn’t see before and you see more definition. What you do it the kitchen matters, but strength training also plays a significant role in how you look in the mirror.  Seeing a muscular and sculpted body that you built is an incredibly powerful feeling.

3) Muscle helps you look and feel young. Call it the science of telomeres, those caps at the end of chromosomes that control aging. Recent studies have found a link between regular exercise and the lengthening of the telomeres, essentially slowing down the aging process. But there are so many other things muscle-building activities do to keep you young. You build and preserve your muscle to keep you strong with full mobility. Your skin glows. You have a better chance to stave off chronic illness. You reduce stress, increase flexibility and gain energy. And when you do a heart-pumping muscle-building workout, you get those same runner’s high endorphins that make you feel on top of the world. When you are fit with muscle, you radiate health and that keeps you looking (and feeling) young.
4) Muscle gives you confidence. When you feel strong physically, you know there is a lot you can do. You believe in yourself and that fuels your confidence. A strong body can perform better at sports and with every day activities where you need to lift, bend and stretch. A strong, muscular body is less prone to injuries. Knowing how strong you are and liking how you look gives you a positive attitude and makes you feel good. Keeping your commitments to work out regularly helps raise your belief in yourself too. Bonus: Good muscle tone helps with your posture and standing tall just exudes confidence.
Next time you work your muscles, keep in mind that you are doing more than achieving a strong body, you are empowering your mind too.
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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.

These exercises stop fat burning! See which exercises burn fat best

• 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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