Warming up is not stretching.

Let’s take a closer look at what it is, if it’s not stretching.

Warming up has many purposes.

It provides a smooth transition from the resting state to the higher level of energy expenditure and effort you experience in the main part of your workout.

It also raises your heart rate from its resting state gradually and safely in order to prepare your heart for more demanding activity.

It prepares you physiologically and psychologically for physical performance and also lessens the possibility of injury.

–A proper warm-up raises your body and muscle temperature, can stretch your tissues permitting greater flexibility, and prepares your joints permiting greater mobility.

–The time needed for a satisfactory warm-up varies from person to person and tends to increase with age. This depends on how fast your body takes to feel loose and break a steady sweat. For most people this is usually 5-15 minutes.

–The colder the weather, the longer the warm-up.

–General ideas for warming up are jogging or easy running, stationary biking, rowing or other light aerobic activity. You need sufficient duration and intensity without developing fatigue.

–The nature of the warm-up varies in some degree in relation to the activity.

You want to simulate as close as you can the physical activity you’re about to engage in. Many exercises and athletes use stationary biking with minimal resistance as their warm-up. It raises your heart rate gently and loosens up your entire lower body.

So, make the most of your warm-up!

shelli

You could walk from California to New York and still not be fit.

Why?

Because walking by itself will never get you fit.

Walking can put undue stress on your back and knees.

It tightens your hamstrings and other leg muscles.

It can cause foot and ankle problems.

It does nothing to increase your upper body strength, and does very little to strengthen your abdominals.

It does very little to increase your agility, balance, and coordination and does little to increase your strength and muscle endurance.

Walking does not increase your cardiovascular conditioning as effectively as other exercises and it takes a lot of time to see results (whether they are fat loss or conditioning results).

There has been a walking craze.

It’s not expensive, needs no equipment except for a good pair of shoes, and doesn’t require a lot of effort.

However, in most cases you’re better off seeing walking as a leisure activity.

Walk for fun, not for fitness. Engage in your regular fitness program and use walking as a supplement.

If you do want to include walking in your exercise program make sure you do two things: walking fast enough to get your heart rate up in order to realize some physical benefits and make sure your walking technique is solid. 

Yes, there is a proper walking technique, but that’s a topic for another article. 

Walk on,

shelli

How do you define fitness? 

It’s a good question, I think.

Generally speaking, here’s a good working definition.

Fitness is your ability to do whatever you ask your body to do.

Can you run a mile without spending the next 2 days recovering from your run?

Do you have sufficient flexibility?

Can you lift a 10 lb. dumbbell and do a circuit routine of upper body exercises?

Can you jump rope for 10 minutes or more?

Can you ride a stationary bike for 15 minutes and maintain 90-120 rpm?

If you can answer YES to these, then you are fit.

I hope you get my point.

Fitness consists of many different elements.

You may be exercising regularly but not be very fit.

It is essential to exercise properly, efficiently, and effectively so that you attain a sufficient level of fitness.

Can you motivate yourself to make exercise and getting and staying fit a good health habit?

If you can, then you are on the road to fitness.

That’s great. Congratulations!

If you have been exercising but are not on the road to fitness (as I’ve explained it here), then get started. It’s never too late.

All around fitness is a key to optimizing both your health and longevity: two things I’m betting you’re interested in.

shelli

Genetics do play a role in flexibility, but everyone can increase their flexibility if they learn the correct techniques.

Stretching prepares your body for the physical demands you put on your muscles.

Good flexibility increases your ability to avoid injury because it permits a greater range of movement within your joints, ligaments, and other tissues so they are not easily strained or torn.

It also permits greater freedom of movement in all directions.

Hyperflexibility, however, must be avoided.

Loose-jointed people are more prone to dislocations and other injuries. Extremes in flexibility are of little value because it results in weaker joints.

Stretching promotes circulation and feels good.

The correct way to stretch is a relaxed, sustained, static stretch concentrating on the muscles being stretched.

The wrong way to stretch is to bounce up and down or to stretch until you feel pain. That does more harm than good.

When you stretch hold it for 10 – 60 seconds. Do this with each stretch. This is called static stretching.

Hold a static stretch so that the specific joint is immobilized in a position that places the desired muscles and connective tissues passively at their greatest possible length. Little risk of injury exists if static stretching is done like this.

Stretch until you feel a mild tension and relax as you hold the stretch. The feeling of tension should subside as you hold the position.

If it does not, ease off and find a degree of tension that is comfortable.

While stretching breathe normally; exhale as you bend forward and continue breathing as you hold each stretch.

shelli

No matter what your sport or what your health and fitness goals are in life, here are 5 perspectives to use that will enhance your experience, guaranteed!

Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude

Be thankful for your body.

It’s such a gift to be able to be physically active and see your body support you in your physical endeavors.

You likely put many hours into your training, so sometimes it’s easy to forget and take for granted our body’s response to the load we place on it.

Recall how far you’ve come as an athlete and how much progress you’ve made.

Play golf?

Recall how awkward you were during the early days on the driving range.

Swim?

Remember when you could barely swim two laps in the pool?

Training for a marathon?

It’s taken months of dedication and adaptation running mile after mile.

Sometimes when you stop and realize where you WERE as an athlete and how much progress you’ve made, it’s quite an eye opener.

Think about injuries you’ve overcome, obstacles you’ve busted through and choices you’ve had to make to enjoy an active lifestyle.

None of these are easy to handle, so bring that attitude of gratitude with you as you pursue activities that bring you pleasure and you’ll enjoy them even more!

Believe

Believe in yourself.

It’s easy to get discouraged and think you won’t ever reach your goals. Setbacks happen, it’s normal.

Get back in the game and start from where you find yourself and keep going!

Surround yourself with a good community of like-minded people and learn to use their support. They’ll help you stay the course, however, the core belief in yourself must come from you.

Understand your Nutrition and Hydration Needs

As an athlete and active woman you should know what your nutrition and hydration needs are.

Don’t get caught up in what someone else is doing. You have your own needs.

Also, make sure to learn what it takes for your body to recover. Being smart about your recovery time is essential to keeping yourself training long into the future.

Stay in the Moment

I know you’ve heard this before, but it can be tricky to really grasp what it means.

Simply put, stay tuned in to what’s happening with your body.

Stay present in both your mind and body to what you’re experiencing.

Stay focused on what you are doing and how you’re feeling while you’re exercising, training, or racing.

You can do a body scan asking yourself questions such as: am I feeling hydrated, how is my heart rate, how do I feel?

Think about what you are doing in this moment.

Don’t fall into the mental trap of spending too much time in future planning.

For instance, if you’re out for a hike and your thoughts turn to “what am I going to have for dinner tonight?” it’s likely that you’re probably hungry and should take in some fuel NOW!

Staying present fosters a sense of enjoyment and enriches your experience and memory of what you’re doing.

It takes practice, so if you’re not already working with this idea, start now.

It’s All About the Journey

I know, this sounds like a platitude but it’s really true.

As athletes we reach for new goals and experiences. We can be overly result-oriented so we have a tendency to forget to enjoy the journey and focus too much on our improvement or lack of results as a measure of success.

I train many first time marathoners.

The first goal I look to instill in them is that they finish the marathon with a smile on their face!

Their result time for that first marathon is insignificant compared to having a great experience. There is only one first, and I want them to enjoy it and perhaps even think about doing it again. It requires that their mindset focus on the journey!

There will always be rough spots and obstacles to overcome if we’re active and pursue an active lifestyle.

I think these five focuses help us keep one foot in front of the other, doing our best and moving forward.

Your perspective is key to how you’ll experience your life, so add these five to your perspective checklist and let them enrich your active lifestyle!

shelli

If I asked you, “Why do we eat protein?” I’m wondering what you would answer.

One of the most common answers is, “For energy.”

How about this protein question, “Does it matter which sources of protein we eat to get maximum protein nutritional value?”

Most people would answer that gram for gram all protein sources are the same.

While it is somewhat true that protein provides energy, it is not the main reason why our bodies require protein.

And, all protein sources are not the same when it comes to their nutritional and usable benefits.

Let’s look more closely at protein so you understand the correct answers to these protein questions.

Your body is built of protein.

Protein makes up your organs, bones, tendons, ligaments and blood. It also makes up many of your hormones (insulin, growth hormone), immune system, neurotransmitters and all of the enzymes of metabolism, digestion and detoxification.

In other words, it plays a huge role.

Because of the acts of daily living, proteins break down.

They need to be repaired or replaced so that all the structures they comprise stay healthy and functional.

That’s why getting enough daily high quality dietary protein is essential. So, protein is a key nutrient for both recovery and longevity.

If you’re working on increasing your fitness, your needs for quality protein increases so that you’ll be able to support your structure as you increase your workload. If you don’t do this, you’ll likely feel less energetic, experience irritability and poor sleep, and perhaps injure yourself or feel ill.

Protein is a complex structure made up of smaller units called amino acids.

There are 22 different ones in nature that are used in your body to make protein. Only eight of them must be in your diet on a daily basis.

So when it comes to making proteins, you can’t make them without the 8 essential amino acids.

They are called “essential” because your body cannot make them and must get them from food. Eat enough of these eight essential amino acids and your body can make all of the other proteins it needs.

Therefore, a protein’s quality is attributed to the amount and proportion of these eight essential amino acids.

For instance, animal proteins have all of the essential amino acids and vegetable proteins are often missing one or more of them.

In order to make sure you are getting enough protein to maintain your body in an optimum state, make sure you don’t fall into one of these two groups.

1. People who are not eating enough quality protein. This can be due to a lack of accurate information about which foods have high quality protein.

If you are a vegan and don’t eat animal protein, make sure to learn what your best sources of high quality protein are. Also, many dieters who cut calories are likely not eating enough high quality protein.

2. People who cannot digest protein fully, so it does not enter their bodies. Protein digestion begins in the stomach with an enzyme called pepsin. Pepsin only works if the pH (acidity) of the stomach is very low, between 1-2. If the pH of your stomach is too high (from taking antacids or other medications for instance), your protein digestion will be compromised.

So, you may be eating enough protein but not digesting or absorbing it.

Now let’s say that you ARE eating enough protein and you ARE absorbing it. What happens next?

One of two things will happen. Either the amino acids are used by your body to make protein, OR your body uses the amino acids for energy.

What determines whether the amino acids from your diet go down the “make protein” or “make energy” pathway? The answer to this question was only recently discovered.

The route that a dietary protein takes is determined by the ratio and amounts of the eight essential amino acids in that protein.

If the makeup of a protein has a ratio of essential amino acids that is correct to what your body needs, that will be a “quality protein.” If it is missing certain of the essential amino acids, or if they are in an improper ratio, it is considered a lesser quality protein.

Nutritionists measure the quality of a protein using an index called NNU or Net Nitrogen Utilization. Of the three major food groups, proteins, fats and carbohydrates, only proteins have nitrogen.

Scientists can measure how many grams of nitrogen go in the body when a certain amount of protein is eaten and then they collect the urine and stool to measure how much nitrogen came out.

What didn’t come out is what the body used to make its own proteins. That’s the NNU of that food.

Here are some examples of the NNU in foods you commonly eat:

Beef, poultry, fish and eggs have an average NNU of 32%.

This means that if you ate a can of tuna with 28 grams of protein, the actual amount of that protein that your body could use would be 32% of that or about 9-10 grams.

For dairy products and soy products the NNU is much lower at 17%. Remember when looking at the NNU you are measuring the quality factor of the protein.

Vegetables and nuts have much lower NNUs (under 10%). This is why it is more challenging to get adequate protein if you’re a vegetarian or vegan, since the NNU quality of those proteins is lower.

As active women you must get enough high quality protein in your diet.

You need enough quality protein to keep up with your body needs, and then some if you’re looking to improve performance and not break down.

Use this information to keep enhancing the quality of your protein intake so that you can improve performance and optimize your health.

If you feel you are eating enough quality protein and yet feel you are not digesting or absorbing it properly, seek the advice of a qualified health professional.

Keep the protein coming, and keep it of the highest quality possible!

shelli

Caffeine seems to be everywhere these days, not just in beverages or foods.

I’ve seen it in soaps and personal hygiene items as well. It’s even in the fireplace log currently in my fireplace!

Caffeine is America’s drug of choice and it seems like the whole world is hooked as well!

More than 90% of Americans admit to regular caffeine use, and up to 30% of them ingest 600 milligrams or more each day. That’s about six cups of coffee a day!

As for what caffeine promises to deliver, it’s quite a list……

–general performance enhancement
–better calorie burning
–ability to ward off sleep
–improved athletic performance
–decreased pain and fatigue
–improved memory
–enhanced mood.

What’s interesting though, is that when asked, most users do not consume caffeine for these benefits.

They drink it to avoid the withdrawal symptoms: those agonizing headaches.

It’s easy to see why the whole world is on a caffeine binge.

Caffeine is readily available and while some of the benefits are indeed real, the problem seems to be that most people go from using it for an occasional pick-me-up to becoming dependent on it.

As their tolerance to caffeine increases, withdrawal symptoms increase in intensity, and benefits diminish. It becomes a stimulant rollercoaster.

If you want to use caffeine, the idea is to moderate consumption to optimize these benefits and minimize potential harmful effects.

Caffeine enters your blood stream rapidly, and within an hour reaches all your organs, inducing physiological changes that will last for up to six hours. Due to its chemical structure, it easily crosses the blood-brain barrier and a whole host of chemical reactions in your body begin.

An exaggerated stress response takes hold so your adrenal glands produce adrenaline, the “flight or fight” hormone.

Heart rate increases, blood flow shunts to the muscles, blood pressure rises, muscles contract, and the liver releases extra glucose into the blood stream, thereby sparing muscle glycogen.

Quite A LOT of influence this caffeine has over our nervous system, wouldn’t you say?

It is true that caffeine enhances athletic performance, and nearly 70% of athletes in one study I read reported regular caffeine use.

One year while running a marathon, I carried a Gu product with caffeine in it in case I needed a burst of energy towards the finish line. I consumed my caffeinated Gu and felt like I had been shot out of a cannon! That was quite an experience.

Interestingly enough though, the performance enhancing benefits of caffeine are stronger in NONUSERS than in regular users.

The brain adapts and its effects are lessened with the same dose producing fewer desirable physiological changes.

Many people, when they see their tolerance increasing, consume more caffeine, continuously pursuing the jolt. This only serves to increase what can be severe consequences.

I’ve read studies of what happens to people who binge on caffeine and it’s not a pretty picture.

In addition to toxicity at high doses, when combined with other substances like alcohol, ephedrine or anti-inflammatory medications, even moderate caffeine use can be dangerous.

Chronic caffeine use can also contribute to:

–high blood pressure
–high blood sugar
–decreased bone density in women
–jittery nerves and sleeplessness
–withdrawal symptoms like headaches, irritability, fatigue, difficulty concentrating and decreased energy.

Here are some ideas if you want to moderate your caffeine consumption to optimize its advantages while averting dependence and withdrawal:

1–If you are going to taper off caffeine, choose a period of relatively low stress. It may cause tiredness so get plenty of sleep—7-8 hours would be great.

2–Keep track of how much caffeine you take in each day. Be honest. This will help you see the importance of tapering down.

3–Start substituting a caffeine-free beverage for one caffeinated beverage every day. Each week add one more substitution. You want to get down to 100 milligrams per day. This is the level below which dependency is unlikely to occur.

4–Next try going cold turkey for three days. The research suggests that withdrawal occurs approximately three days after quitting for new users, and as quickly as 12 hours in regular users. If you feel the caffeine headache, your baseline dose is not low enough. Continue to taper to a 25 mg maintenance dose. You can choose to endure the headache and within a few days you will likely have control over your habit.

5–You do not need a caffeine boost to get you through every deadline, every day or every life event. Choose wisely.

It is possible to have your relationship with caffeine be transformed from an annoying habit driven by the fear of a nagging headache into an occasional performance-enhancing and concentration-boosting one.

I hope this information has been informative and useful.

Even if you are not a caffeine user or you already have a healthy relationship with caffeine, there is always something we can learn from the general understanding of how our systems work when we introduce chemical changes into the picture.

You want your experience with java to be joyful rather than stressful and addictive!

I’m a golfer.

I know, so many sports, so little time.

In fact, I’m a very good golfer.

During the past few years I haven’t gotten out there very much, but these past few months I’ve started playing again and I’m really enjoying it.

I had a real menopause AH HA on the course that I’d like to share with you.

I think you’ll find it both amusing and instructive.

If I don’t have anyone to play with I play alone. I enjoy the time to myself, and focusing on my game and not chatting with anyone while I play allows me to relax.

The third hole on this course (which I’ve played many times before) is not a particularly long one (par 3), but it’s uphill all the way.

I pulled out the club I’ve always used on this hole, and REALLY MISS-HIT my first shot off the tee. It flew into the trees and almost on to another fairway.

Here’s where the menopause AH HA begins!

There’s something in golf called a mulligan.

A mulligan is basically a do-over shot.

When you miss-hit your first shot off the tee and you take another shot, it’s called a mulligan.

I don’t take mulligans!

That’s why I can play 18 holes of golf in under 2 hours!

In fact, one time the guy in the golf pro shop noticed how quickly I played my round of golf and he said, “You don’t take mulligans, do you?

My attitude about mulligans is rare.

Most golfers do take them, and some take them on EVERY HOLE and anytime they hit a bad shot. This can drive a golfer like me CRAZY!

I’ve seen golfers drop balls in the middle of the fairway or play two or three balls at the same time.

I want to scream, “Hey, this ISN’T the driving range!” What’s the point of taking the same  shot over and over on the course; you’ll never improve that way.

Where was I? Oh yeah, golf and menopause!

So, I’m watching my shot go way off track and I think to myself (for a fleeting moment), do I take a mulligan here?

And my answer comes back NOPE. Play it where it lies.

I walk to my ball and I see that I’ll have to hit it over a tree and uphill to land it on the green.

I grab a 7 iron and hit the most beautiful shot. I watched it land softly on the green. If you could have seen my face, I suspect I was grinning from ear to ear.

I love it when things like that happen when I don’t take the easy way out and I reap the rewards of facing the challenge.

I felt uplifted the whole day.

For the rest of the day I couldn’t help but see how what I had experienced on the course was a metaphor for menopause and middle age.

On the one hand, by the time we reach menopause there are choices we’ve made and roads we’ve traveled that simply cannot be done over.

Mulligans don’t apply, so we’re best off making peace with what IS.

In a sense though, menopause does present us with an opportunity to take mulligans. It can be a time of do-overs.

If we take a more spiritual approach to life, every moment, every hour, every day can be seen as mulligan time. But I was thinking more about the bigger picture.

If we see menopause as a time to take stock and play it (life) where it lies, then there are many USEFUL ways to take mulligans.

We can do over how we’ve been eating and the nutritional choices we make each day.

We can take a mulligan and start an activity program that really motivates and energizes us, doing what we enjoy (like me playing golf again) and doing less of what we don’t enjoy.

We can do over relationships that aren’t working well or embrace new ones to fill in the gaps.

Here’s what I encourage you to do.

At the end of your day or at the end of the week, take some time to write (or at least mentally go over) about how you spend your days and what choices you’ve made and see where mulligans would come in handy.

That’s a great first step.

Call it your MMT….Menopause Mulligan Time!

Keep me posted on whether or not you’re taking mulligans and what metaphors your sporting life is presenting for you.

Me?

Believe it or not, in an hour I’m off to play that same course. Who knows what’s in store for me today!

Summer is a “sweet” time of year, and if you’re like me and spending as much time in the ocean as you can, it’s a “salty” time of year as well.

In honor of this sweet and salty time of year, let’s talk about salt and sugar.

I find there are misunderstandings about these two because of all the erroneous marketing and other media sources of health information. Let’s see if we can clear up some things and provide you with accurate, usable knowledge.

Salt or sodium first.

You probably know that in ancient times salt was precious and was traded as a valuable commodity. In that era it was seen as important to survival, yet today people are salt phobic.

While our lifestyles have changed from ancient times, our human biochemistry and physiology have not changed much, so the need for the most important electrolyte in our body has not changed.

There’s an expression, “Follow the money.”

As far as I can tell, the anti-sodium campaign was about selling different foods under the guise of making them healthier. Accuracy in advertising aside, what works in advertising takes precedence.

As consumers internalized this advertising campaign, they started believing that low-sodium was good and salt in general was bad. Actual scientific information was pushed aside.

In fact, sodium is needed for human health, performance and physiology.

Unless someone has a specific and serious condition which precludes them from taking in salt, salt intake does not produce negative health problems. Only 10% of hypertension cases have a known cause, and almost all of them are genetic or stress related.

If you are a high-performance athlete do not avoid sodium. You need adequate amounts daily to prevent negative metabolic consequences and to ensure maximum performance.

One of sodium’s jobs is to regulate blood volume and blood pressure.

When you exercise, the body is better served by a higher blood volume thereby ensuring better oxygen and nutrient delivery to working cells, as well as an efficient removal of toxins when you are fatigued.

Sodium is linked to potassium. Potassium depends on sodium to be effective.

Potassium’s job is primarily the regulation and control of skeletal and cardiac muscles. The vagus nerve, which controls heartbeat, is totally dependent on potassium.

In order for potassium to do its job it needs to be aided by sodium because it is sodium that delivers potassium inside the cell.

For optimum cell integrity and optimum potassium delivery there MUST be ample sodium present.

The primary avenue for the loss of sodium is through sweat glands.

If there isn’t enough sodium there won’t be enough potassium so you’ll experience muscle weakness, cramps, listlessness and lethargy. A prolonged lack of sodium intake will be problematic.

The body is a complex computer system programming itself for survival.

Because of this your body will retain sodium in order to keep the electrolyte balance it requires. Water always follows sodium so this leads to water retention.

Excess sodium will be excreted with water so it’s important to have enough sodium to function properly and let the rest be excreted.

The easiest way to ensure ample sodium intake is through salty condiments such as sea salt, ketchup, mustard, pickles. Be wary of MSG.

And remember I am talking about sodium proper, not table salt.

Sodium chloride is table salt (40% sodium and 60% chloride).

Use sea salt instead. Think REAL sodium and don’t worry about “too much” since the excess will be excreted.

Let’s look at sugar now, so stay tuned for the sweet segment!

shelli

Exercise, particularly during menopause, is essential.

It protects us against aging, dementia, heart disease, hot flashes, stress, excess body fat, depression and diabetes.

It improves the quality of sleep and sex, and protects bones and joints. Some studies tell us exercise takes 10 years off our chronological age. Studies on twins have shown that the twin who exercised had less heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis.

Yes, there’s effort involved in order to reap the benefits.

In looking at the questions that I’m most often asked, I see some common threads of confusion, so let’s take those myths and bust through them.

Myth #1 There’s Not Enough Time In The Day

Every woman feels strapped for time.

We are jugglers keeping many plates spinning in the air all at once.

The studies I’ve read suggest that that average American watches four and a half hours of television a day. Some of that time, at least, can be used for getting fit.

It’s important to try exercising at different times of the day and seeing what works best for your schedule. Some women find that getting their workouts in first thing in the morning is best, and others prefer the evenings.

There is no right or wrong time, whatever works and whatever schedule you’ll stick with is what’s best!

Myth #2 Exercise Is Boring
To reap the long term benefits of exercise, it is essential to do what you enjoy!

Think beyond walking, jogging or more structured routines, and find what works for you. Spend the evening square dancing and you’ll have walked five miles.

If what you’ve chosen for staying active does get dull, mix it up.

If you usually take a bike ride or a walk alone, invite some friends to join you. Change the locations of your exercise sessions. Don’t just use machines and stay indoors.

Variety will keep your movement choices fresh.

Myth #3 Exercise Is Exhausting

It’s true that if you’ve been leading a sedentary lifestyle and you do too much too soon, you’ll feel tired and achy. This means you’re overdoing it. Listen to your body and make corrections.

The idea is to start slowly, be consistent, and your energy levels will increase as your effort increases.

This also holds true for women who have been very active all their lives. An increase in effort and energy expenditure needs to happen over time, not all at once.

You do have to spend energy to get energy, so see exhaustion as a warning signal.

Myth # 4 Exercise Will Hurt Stiff Or Achy Joints

It’s exactly the opposite.

Exercise, when done properly, is a lubricant and a natural pain reliever.

Studies with arthritic populations find that one hour of low impact exercise, twice per week, reduced pain and fatigue, and improved joint function.

It is a case of move-it-or- lose-it. Many times a joint will be stiff and achy because you haven’t used it.

Regularly engaging in leisure time physical activity is necessary to keep your body functioning optimally and your joints free of those aches and pains.

Myth # 5 Walking Is All You Ever Need To Do

While walking does produce significant benefits, as your fitness levels increase you’ll want to incorporate more intensity into your aerobics and add a strength training component to your active lifestyle.

To improve your fitness levels, all muscles, including your heart muscle, need to be challenged.

It also makes sense to have multiple choices for enjoying exercise so that you’re challenging your body in different ways. This will ensure you’re reaping all the potential benefits.

Myth #6 You Have To Wear Special Clothes And Sweat

While that’s certainly true for certain sports, it’s not true across the board.

Sometimes wearing comfortable clothing can be all that’s needed.

Let’s use tai chi as an example. Tai chi is an ancient Chinese martial art consisting of deep breathing and slow, gentle, controlled movements.

Tai chi improves blood sugar levels in diabetics and relieves stress (making it a great movement choice for menopausal women). It also improves heart and lung health, your immunity and your flexibility. And all it requires is that you wear comfortable clothing!

So think outside the box if you don’t like activities that require a bunch of special gear.

Myth# 7 It’s Difficult To Get And Stay Motivated

There are many women who start exercising when they are faced with a health challenge, but it’s always best to start before that.

Creating an active lifestyle by taking up activities that you enjoy will keep you motivated.

Activities like golf, tennis, hiking, dancing, yoga, pilates, and biking give you an opportunity to spend time with friends and have fun.

Don’t forget the having FUN part. If you’re not having fun, the consistency element that’s crucial for gaining benefits will likely fall away.

You can also motivate yourself by doing something like wearing a pedometer and tracking how much you walk each day, or by signing on for a special event race. Strategies like these work well for getting up and getting going!

One thing is certain when looking to create an active lifestyle during menopause. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

One thing I can tell you with great certainty, having been in the health and fitness field for over 20 years now, is that when a woman gets sufficient and appropriate exercise, her chances of having an easier time during menopause are greatly increased.

Exercise is the best prescription there is for the uncertainty of the menopause experience!