How Often Are You Stretching?

When I went in to the chiropractor this week for my chronic back pain, the first thing she asked, as I was face down on the table, was “How often are you stretching?” Oops. That seems to be one more thing that has been squeezed out of my life. Oh, I do an hour of yoga every couple of weeks, but obviously that is not keeping me anywhere near flexible.

Later in the week, I went to visit my massage therapist. The first thing he asked, as I was face down on the table waiting for his myofascial release massage to begin, was “How often are you stretching?” Oh, no… that same question again.

It seems that as we age, our connective muscle tissue shortens and if we do not stretch our muscles, we become stiff, sore and inflexible. As I’ve been researching, it seems that we need to be stretching every single day, not just a couple of times a month.

Yesterday as I was stretching to my yoga tape, I realized how stiff I was.  A few years ago I could do most of those routines without much trouble at all, but now they were "suddenly" hard to do.  Guess I need to figure out how to get "stretching" squeezed back into my life on a daily basis. Any ideas?

Yoga

Nearly ten years ago I ordered a set of yoga tapes which I still love to this day, Yoga Zone - Premiere Collection (Beginners).  I had previously purchased some other yoga videos, but as a beginner I could not really keep up with them. This set was different. Alan Finger’s calming voice guided me through an appropriately paced set of poses while two assistants showed me how to do them, so I could watch as well as listen. Each hour-long workout left me feeling relaxed and renewed.

For a few years I was a faithful practitioner of yoga. That does not mean I was any type of expert… that just means that I cycled through three of the Yoga Zone tapes on a weekly basis. Then, I quit and started doing other workouts.

However, any time my back or joints start aching I remember to get out my yoga mat and turn on those old tapes. An hour later, I once again feel relaxed and renewed.

Yoga is known for improving posture and balance while increasing flexibility, strength and muscle tone. By building your core and developing your strength and flexibility as you age, you will not fall so often if you trip over something.  You'll be able to catch yourself.  Yoga decreases joint and muscle pain which in turn makes you feel better and improves your sleep.

It’s easy to get started. Buy the tapes (DVDs now) and a Yoga mat. Set your alarm an hour earlier than normal. Climb out of bed and go to your TV, turn on the DVD and just start the poses in your pajamas. It couldn’t be easier.

Healthy Feet

As an “older” woman, I have begun to have some foot problems.  To keep me from the podiatrist’s knife, I bought some “Yoga Toes” which I’ve been wearing 3-4 times a week while bathing or reading or watching TV. Whenever I can put my feet up to rest.

Recently I’ve been reading the book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall which has made me want to go a little further with my natural healing. In the book, McDougall quotes Dr. Paul Brand, a professor of surgery, who says, “foot ailments such as corns, bunions, hammer-toes, flat feet, and fallen arches are nearly nonexistent in countries where most people go barefoot.”

Stanford’s track and cross-country coach, Vin Lananna said, “If you strengthen the foot by going barefoot, I think you reduce the risk of Achilles and knee and plantar fascia problems.” According to McDougall, Lananna made sure his runners always did part of their workouts in bare feet on the track’s infield.

Dr. Gerard Hartmann, a physical therapist who works with the world’s finest distance runners said, “the best injury-prevention advice he’s ever heard came from a coach who advocated ‘running barefoot on dewy grass three times a week.’”

The fascinating part about reading this book was that I began to think of myself as a runner, even though I probably haven’t run more than a few hundred feet at a time in years. So one warm evening recently, I challenged my husband to a short race on the golf course… barefoot.

In my mind I could see me taking off and running like the wind leaving my husband in my dust. He wanted to give me a head start, and I looked at him like he was crazy. So we started off. “Oh, my gosh…” I could barely even get started and by the time I did, I was the one left in the dust. We did 3 or 4 more races and I got a little better, but never did beat him. The next morning when I got up, my back was really knotted up and I ended up in the chiropractor’s office before the day was over. After a couple of days of rest, I do plan to go out to the golf course once again and practice running barefoot. Maybe I’ll get better… or maybe I’m too old?

Massage

I've gotten plenty of massages over the years, but never knew if they were really valuable beyond the relaxation and "feel good" component.  A recent study was published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine which gives us some answers. The scientists tested 53 volunteers... half of them were given a 45-minute deep tissue Swedish massage and the other half were given a 45-minute light touch massage.

According to a review of the study published in the New York Times, the subjects who got the Swedish massage had decreases in the stress hormone cortisol and increases in the number of white blood cells which are part of the immune system.  The group given the light touch massage had higher levels of oxytocin, a hormone associated with contentment.

While in Myrtle Beach this fall, I was suffering from the beginnings of a cold... stuffy nose and scratchy throat.  My husband was reading the New York Times article, used his iPad to find the location of a masseuse then called and made me an appointment for a Swedish massage.

It may be the placebo effect, but I swear it made me feel much better as my cold symptoms lessened.

Walking

Walking is such a good, easy way to exercise, but if we don't make it a habit we sometimes start skipping days and then we start skipping more days until we are only walking when the weather is perfect or the time is right. As you know, we must make our exercise a habit so that we don't have to think about the weather or the time of year or whether we really have time.

I will tell you about how I have made my daily walks a habit just to give you an idea, but, of course, each of you will have to make a habit that fits with your life.

I have dogs to walk. That is a very good motivator as they need exercise as much as I do. As their 'mother,' I must keep my 'children' healthy. As soon as I get up, I put my walking clothes on. Some days, I may have to set the alarm for 5:00 A.M., if I have someplace to go that day. I have just learned that if I don't do it first thing, I will tend to skip it. So, walking first thing in the morning has become a habit seven days a week. Of course, if it is raining hard I can't risk getting those poodle haircuts ruined, so we don't go. :)

However, that doesn't really happen too often. The only other variable is the length of our walk. Some days we only have time to do a 20-minute walk, whereas other days we can do thiry or forty minutes.

Whenever my granddaughter stays with me, she knows that we have to walk the dogs. When she was very small, I would push her in the stroller and hold 3 leashes. It got to be a little complicated, but we would do it. As she got older, I would hold her hand and one dog leash with my left hand and hold on to the other two dogs with my right hand. This also was complicated, but we would do it. Now that she's five, she can walk beside us and will keep up, especially, if I promise her a stop at the neighborhood park or a special cartoon while we eat breakfast.

Because I now have only two dogs to walk, it has gotten much less complicated and I have pulled out my i-pod. I have found if I download a motivational talk or a workshop, I will walk longer because I am so interested in listening to the talks.

I hope you can find ways to make your daily exercise an enjoyable habit. Leave me a comment as to how you have done that in your life.

Switched to SuperSlow

At a charity "silent auction" this summer I noticed one of the bid items was a package of personal strength training sessions at SuperSlow. My son was going to be in town soon and he had talked many times about the benefits of a SuperSlow workout. I bid on the package and "won."

I have been working out at a local gym with a personal trainer for the past year and a half so thought this workout would be very similar. It wasn't.

I walked in and was met by my slightly overweight trainer who was dressed in street clothes and lots of jewelry. I worked out on several machines while she explained the SuperSlow concept. This was not a race to see how many reps I could do, but I was told to go very slowly for 3 minutes on each machine and to do as few reps as possible. The temperature was very cool, the gym was small with no more than 2 trainers working at the same time and no separate cardio machines. There is no loud music... in fact there is no music at all as you are to concentrate on your workout. The total workout only took 30 minutes.

I have since signed up for more sessions. It's very unusual to take a shower BEFORE I go to the gym. After my 30-minute session I am free to get a few errands run and I still get home in less time than I did with my previous workouts. It's really a nice change for now.

Added Swimming to My Exercise Routine

My granddaughter LOVES to swim and at 4-years old she is quite good. Whenever she visits, she is in the pool 2-3 times a day. The last time she came, a golfer had hit a ball into the pool and no one wanted to get it out. Kendall did. She swam to the bottom of the 9-10' area and retrieved the golf ball!

I am a warm water swimmer. By the end of June our pool had gotten warm enough for me to start swimming. I love the water and I love swimming (as long as it's warm) so for about 6 weeks I have been able to swim nearly every day. As in my other sports, I am not an extremist. I usually swim laps for 15-30 minutes using a variety of strokes. It definitely adds to my aerobic exercise and really energizes me. Unfortunately for swimming, we have had a week of cooler temperatures and clouds and rain so today I won't swim. I hope it is not the end of the swimming season for me, but just a few days without it.

It All Started with... "Younger Next Year"...

It all started last fall when my husband gave me a book to read called, Younger Next Year. At the time we were on a trip to Williamsburg, VA and I basically finished the book during our travel day. WOW! It was good. It is written by Chris Crowley and Dr. Harry Lodge. Dr. Lodge gives the scientific reasons for their suggestions and Chris adds his own personal journey.

What they suggest is vigorous exercise six days a week. In return, after age 50 your body will actually grow physiologically younger each year. In fact, they say that you can avoid 70 percent of the decay and eliminate 50 percent of the injuries and illnesses associated with getting older.

After I returned home and added more intensity to my workouts, joined a gym and signed up for strength training, I wanted to tell all of my friends about this new found wonder "drug."

I started giving books to people only to discover they weren't reading them, so I decided to bring Chris to our town to talk to my friends. Now that was a real job. I spent a lot of time over a 6-month period trying to make it all happen. And, I did.

On Thursday night, May 1, 2007, we held a "meet the author" reception at our home. The main event was held on Friday, May 2nd. It was a luncheon for women at Hollytree Country Club in Tyler, TX.

 Tickets were sold in advance and as the women arrived they checked in.

 Barnes & Noble sent a representative with a box full of books. The author, Chris Crowley, was available to autograph any books purchased.

 More of the women purchasing books.

 We also had a silent auction to help raise funds for Azleway, a local children's charity.

 Women visiting in the foyer while waiting for the luncheon to begin.

 More visiting.

 Scenes from the luncheon.

As the women were finishing up their lunch, Chris Crowley gave an inspiring and humorous talk to get all of us ready to improve our fitness levels.

If you would like to look at the book on Amazon.com, you can click on the link below.