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If you have browsed through your favorite bookstore lately in search of help in succeeding in your quest to live a healthy lifestyle or where to start out on your fitness program, you probably walked out more confused then when you walked in. Looking to the internet in many cases is not much more help due to the massive amounts of data to sift through much of which is geared toward those that mother nature still favors. Lastly much of the information you find does nothing more than explain why we should be working out and staying active, something we have all heard and are well aware of at this stage in life.

For those of us that mother nature does not favor quite as much as before we turned 40 we can read all of the fitness articles that we want, sign-up for various programs, getting a training coach and any number of other options, but something the marketing gurus fail to mention is that biochemically speaking we are not programmed to succeed. Mother Nature has started turning off those longevity signals, the rebuild/repair signals and no amount of training is going to change that – sorry. The good news is that we can turn these signals back on and once we have our bodies in an anabolic (rebuild/repair) state we can succeed and in grand fashion. The key to turning those signals back on is DHEA which has been proven in numerous IRB certified tests to have a profound impact on the aging process and most importantly returning our bodies, biochemically speaking, to a more youthful state. To do this properly please see a use with the direction of your health professional to have your DHEA sulfate levels tested.

While a very powerful and critical component to any fitness program anyone 40+ DHEA is not a quick fix and please do not approach it with this mentality. However, take note that it does work and as mentioned previously there is a lot of data to support this claim. As an example a year long study with postmenopausal women clearly demonstrated increased bone density, improved glucose tolerance, enhanced feelings of well being, decreased body fat, increased muscle mass, improved liver functions and NO side effects.

Once you shift your body from a catabolic (downward spiral) state back into an anabolic state of rebuild/repair you are ready to get to work.

First and foremost avoid being a weekend warrior. Those individuals that spend a couple weekends a month working out really do more harm than good. In short their bodies simply don’t ever have an opportunity to increase strength, flexibility and/or stamina and in short they are putting themselves in a position whereby they are much more susceptible to injury. Consistent exercise spread throughout the entire week is much more beneficial.

Set goals. Whatever your goals for taking up a fitness/wellness program put them in writing and just as importantly put them somewhere that you will see them often. Share them with a friend; find yourself an accountability partner; a workout partner; or your spouse. By taking this small step you have just greatly increased your odds of success. Clearly defined goals are a critical step towards success in any devour. Along the lines of setting goals, make your goals achievable and realistic. One of the biggest contributors to people failing when starting out with a new workout regimen is discouragement – we are wired to like success. Set some realistic short term goals that can be stepping stones towards your bigger long term goals. Remember it is important to see progress and the best way to measure that progress is to have goals.

Moderation is the key. Moderate consistent exercise is proven to stimulate your metabolism, promote weight loss and most importantly reduces your risk of injury. Remember that you are actually reprogramming your body, over time, to use the calories that you take in daily for energy, rebuilding your muscles and not storing it as fat. When we are sedentary our bodies learn that we don’t need a lot of that extra energy, the muscles are NOT working and as such it is much easier to simply store those calories as fat. Just as we can program our bodies to know that we don’t need that energy we have the ability to change that programming through moderate consistent exercise spread over 3 to 5 days a week.

As an important note please do not get discourage by all of the charts that have been published showing that for example you burn 200 calories after doing a specific exercise for 30 minutes. The truth is that your body continues to burn calories at an increase rate long after you have stopped exercising and as previously mentioned your body will learn to burn more calories on daily basis.

If cost is a concern one of the most effective and efficient exercises is walking. With a good pair of walking shoes you are ready to go. From walking through the neighborhood, walking on the track at the local school or walking through the mall during bad weather you have an unlimited number of options. In a number of cities malls have started opening their doors long before the stores open to allow patrons to do their walking without the added challenge of dodging shoppers.

Please do not forget or discount strength training. In order to maximize your benefits gained from exercise it is imperative that increase your upper body strength. Most exercising provides great benefits to all of the large muscles located in our legs, but does little to increase our upper body strength. If you are wondering why the importance of upper body strength/training keep in mind that 65% of your muscles are above your waist. Research has shown that for most people their upper body muscles are the most underdeveloped muscles they have. As such moderate training on alternate days provides the most benefit as it gives the muscles the time required to rebuild and repair themselves after being stressed. It is important to note that we are not talking about large amounts of weight as most people could benefit significantly from weights ranging from 3lbs to 10lbs.

Get help! If you are a do-it yourself type person this is one area that it is strongly recommended that you seek the guidance of an experienced trainer. There are numerous details about training that can only be taught by and experienced trainer and most importantly having that feedback during the workout process is critical. Being able to correct bad form, posture, and/or little details of a particular exercise is very important prior to developing bad habits.

Stretching is often an overlooked but very critical component for the success of any fitness program. Strength, flexibility and reduced chances for injury are benefits of proper stretching both before, after and during your workouts. Yes, during your workout. Moving through the complete range of motion for a given exercise not only stresses the muscle, but provides the stretching of the muscles that is required for full range of motion. Many times people feel that the stretching part of the workout is optional, they don’t schedule time for that part of the workout and when sporting some sore muscles stretching isn’t any fun, but your success greatly depends on this often overlooked component.

Rest and Relaxation are just as important if not more important than the exercise part of your routine. It boils down to the fact that your muscles do not grow while you are in the gym. That is where they are being stressed, broken down and tore down due to the stressors of the exercises that you are putting them through. Once you have torn your muscles down, they need time to rebuild and repair themselves. For young athletes over training is often one of the biggest reasons they are not performing at their maximum potential.

Armed with the above tips you are much more likely to succeed. Remember to get the important nutrients that your body needs to maintain an anabolic state, maintain a consistent moderate workout pattern, find a workout routine that fits your schedule and provides adequate stimulation for both your upper and lower body, get help from a professional trainer/coach, remember to stretch both before and after your workouts, and lastly relax.

How often have you heard the statement “Use it or Loose it”? What about the now famous Nike slogan “Just Do It”? If you have heard these or any number of other slogans they make it seem that getting out and running a marathon is a matter of jumping up, putting on some running shoes and going for a leisurely 30 mile run.

Compare that to starting out with a new workout routine whereby you start by doing some exercise, maybe walking/running a mile, cycling or any number of other activities, only feel like you have been hit by a car the next morning.  Rest assured that you are not the only one that has gone through this experience. What our faced paced, instant gratification society has failed to explain to people is that “Just Do It” is not reality and unfortunately what you are feeling that next morning is reality.

Having spent a number of years working out in various gyms the same thing happens year after year. Starting in January and running through about the end of February getting a spot to workout is at a premium, but by the time March roles around things begin to thin out. Where does everyone go? In short human nature is such that we are not going to do something that doesn’t feel good, at least not for very long. Unfortunately, all of the marketing campaigns out there would like you to believe that good health and staying physically fit is simply a matter of joining the local gym/spa and starting a workout routine.

That is by far the worst thing someone can be thinking when starting out on an exercise regimen. That wasn’t the case when you were 20 years old and now that we are all much older that certainly is not the case. If any of the above rings true to you, below you will find some helpful tips that might just help increase your odds of success next time you begin to exercise. Now for those of you who are successfully maintaining a workout regimen don’t checkout as there may be some helpful tips here that will help you stay on the road to success and a much healthier you!

First of all you need to know that starting out on a new workout regimen is going to cause some soreness, stiff muscles, and general aches and pains. Sure we have all heard that working out is important for out health, that it will give you increased energy, improved bone density, and the list goes on. What they failed to tell you is that these things do not happen in the first couple of weeks. If all goes well you need to get through the first 6 to 8 weeks of any new workout routine before you are going to start seeing these benefits. Yes, you read that correctly, that is 6 to 8 weeks before you will start to see benefits. 

That is exactly why what we are talking about here is a healthy lifestyle. We were designed by our maker to move. At our very lowest level in our DNA we are wired to exercise, get certain nutrients and in with all of these things in place we are constantly rebuilding our bodies. Your body is a miracle at work replacing at a minimum of 300 billion cells everyday and as you can imagine if you create 300 billion healthy cells today, tomorrow and moving forward you will in a very real sense grow younger.

Now that we know we are not all capable of jumping into a pair of running shoes are starting out on our first marathon with no training, let’s look at how to get there. Well maybe not running a marathon, but having the energy, strength and stamina to do the things that we want to do.

Start out SLOW! Rome was not built in a day and you certainly are not going to transform your body in one day of working out.
Start with a long term vision that this is a new part of your life. Find something that you enjoy and stick with it. As many of us have heard variety is the spice of life. This is very true with or workouts. Do different things from time to time, but stay active. If you have spouse and they will participate with you the chances of your success just went up 10 fold. Walking, running, cycling, weight training, swimming, rowing, yoga, dancing and this list could go on forever.

If at all possible try to include some type of weight bearing exercises a couple of times a week as these are great for increased muscle density and there is countless studies showing that increased muscle is imperative for longevity. This does not mean going out and trying to become the next Arnold, but it does mean stressing the muscle to the point that they know they are still needed and expected to work.

Additionally, stretching is a must with any workout program as this helps protect the joints by improving range of motion thereby synovial fluid production which increases ligament strength/health.

Lastly and very important make sure that you are getting the proper nutrition. Even with the best of diets you simply can not get all of the nutrients that your body needs to maintain a healthy lifestyle and more importantly and solid anti-aging program. While there is not ample room to cover this here, please note that according to many experts the recommended daily allowance (RDA) does not provide adequate nutrition for the majority of our population and that certainly applies to someone who is staying active with any kind of a workout routine. As such your typical one a day type vitamin is like taking a glass of water to a forest fire and trying to put the fire out.

The same rules apply that have always applied: “Use It or Loose It”, but  let’s be smart about the way we use it.

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin and is one of the most important vitamins for your body with numerous biological functions.  Vitamin C helps to prevent a lot of diseases, boosts your body’s immune system and works to help protect your body’s cholesterol from oxidative stress.  You can take this vitamin with or without any food, as it can be found in supplement form or in many different juices.  Along with being found in supplement and vitamin form, you can find vitamin C in broccoli, strawberries, red peppers, citrus fruits, mustard greens, cauliflower, papaya, and parsley.

Research has shown that the antioxidant properties of vitamin C help protect against heart disease, protect smokers from the vast number of free radicals and is needed by the body to make collagen – the glue of the body.  Even though you shouldn’t take excessive amounts of vitamin C, double a blind-trial found that 500 mg of Vitamin C per day taken for one year reduced the risk of developing reflex sympathetic dystrophy.  Vitamin C is also thought to protect the body against the accumulation and/or retention of numerous toxic minerals.

Vitamin C is well known as an antioxidant, protecting your skin from the harmful damage of UV rays.  If you skin suffers from radiation damage, vitamin C can actually help your skin to recover and reverse some of the harmful effects.  If you include vitamin C in your diet and take it every day, you’ll notice that your skin will benefit.  If you use vitamin E and C together, you’ll notice that scars and other harmful defects on your skin will start to heal as well.

You can find vitamin C in many fruits and vegetables, although oranges will give you the most amounts.  Orange juice is a great way to get some of the vitamin C that your body requires.  Even drinking a glass of orange juice in the morning with your breakfast you will want to supplement with vitamin C to ensure that you are getting optimal amounts.
 
In order to get adequate and/or optimal amounts of vitamin C in your diet, you will want to use vitamin supplements.  When looking for supplements, you should always check to see how much vitamin C is in the supplement as vitamin C is provided in a wide range of dosages.  In order to get the most benefit from your vitamin C it is best to take several times a day as vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin and will not remain in your system as long as fat soluble vitamins. As long as you monitor your intake of vitamin C and use it on a daily basis, you’ll find that your health and immune system will be better than ever.

The most common signs of a deficiency in vitamin C include fatigue, swollen/bleeding gums, an unexplained weakness, and nosebleeds.  Deficiency is common these days, with the most common reasons being alcoholism, smoking and poor diet. Additionally people with kidney failure are at increased risk of vitamin C deficiency, but should only take vitamin C under the supervision of a doctor.