Opera Night -The View from OUR BOX

 

Extra Walking, but there are aspects of fitness that walking does not, necessarily, touch.

 Even though we have been walking many steps each day, I still want to do my class.  It straightens me up and relieves my aches and pains. 

Together in class, we work on our posture, our cardio-vascular fitness, our strength - particularly legs and hips, flexibility and core strength. 

It is the complete package of health-giving movement that we need for healthy ageing. 

 My best step-count day, lately, was 5th May - 17,624 steps.   It is raining here, now that means no more walking for the rest of the day

The Choir - I love it.

 

Recently I came back from a short break from choir.  While I was away, I was quite busy and happy with little grandchildren – truthfully, I didn’t miss the choir.

However, when I came back, even though I was a bit rusty, it was so much fun and the sound of the choir was truly beautiful, that I was thrilled and happy for the rest of the day

So, I realized what singing in the choir meant to me.  It is an outlet for my feelings, it is an artistic expression, too.  Singing together is magic, somehow……. the saying, “ the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts” applies here.

Kim, the maestro

Even though I am often in trouble, Kim is actually kind. (don’t tell him I said so). He makes the session entertaining, so much so that everyone leaves with a smile on their face and spring in their step. 

Not forgetting the joy meeting up with my singing buddies each week, even the altos.  There are many choir members who are away, sadly.  I hope lots of my former choir friends can come to the concert on 20^th May and be swept up in the magic – can come back to choir.  I miss you. 

Saturday 20th May, 3.00pm at the state school

6 sets for better sleep

6 sets per week

Fantastic news.  To sleep better? - Exercise, but not too much.  Here is a really short and helpful YouTube link:- 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpIg5V0QBWQ 

We can strengthen our five major muscle groups by repeating a set for each group a mere six times per week.  The groups are:-

·      Chest

·      Back

·      Abs/Core

·      Legs

·      Arms

Such a low number of sets requires a certain level of intensity, so start with weights that feel moderately heavy, even at first.

Before you start, make sure you warm up because a warm up is not included. Alternatively, go for a walk before you start.  Do jump in where you are and work at your own place.  You don’t need to be a champion, but be mindful of your own safety and feel free to stop at any time.

The session contains two to three sets for each muscle group and a stretch at the end.

This means that by repeating the “2nd half” session of the recordings two or three times week, you will have met the goal of keeping our strength up, as we age, by doing:-

 

6 sets per week.

Strength Training - One of the Pillars of Good Health

 A certain amount of strength work, every week, does us a power of good:-

• it assists with sleep,
• it staves off frailty, thus helps us as we age, 
• it gives us the ability to pursue an active life.

But the problem is?

There are barriers to starting up a strength-training program:-

• Not knowing what to do
• Not knowing how much to do
• Not wanting to suffer an injury
• Not wanting to spend every day in the gym for hours...

Good news - A great place to start

We can attain many of the benefits of strength training from just six sets per week....Before you get too excited, that means six sets of each major muscle group per week - the five major muscle group areas are:-

• Chest
• Back
• Arms
• Legs
• Abs

This is a simple undertaking.  

One way to meet this target is to exercise three times per week with two sets of each group per session.  By the way, while cardio exercise is often counted in terms of duration, say for example, a twenty minute walk, strength-training is counted in reps (repetitions) and sets.  Even  rests between sets can be prescribed.

Alternatively, you could try one set of each group each day.   

With this suggestion of 6 sets per week seems easy, but no,  it means that strength training must be an"effort".  Lifting a feather 2 sets of 10 reps is not going to make us stronger.  The weights we use should feel moderately heavy, even at first.  We should finish a set in good form, but we should feel as though we would like to stop.  

Safety

If we want to commit to weight training that is an"effort", then we must warm up before every session. This prevents injury.  As well, we can stretch at the end of each session, this may help prevent that Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, known as DOMS, when we have sore muscle the next day.  No guarantees though.  

For the warm up, a good idea would be to follow up your morning walk with a session of weights. 

But which exercises?

Watch this space.  I am preparing a very simple that you can follow at home.  Let me know if you are interested and I will keep you posted.

Online Classes

There is a library of online classes.  

These are being updated and include some that do not even require a passcode.  

Caution  - Safety First

For the sake of Workplace Health and Safety I am only granting access to those I know, like former or present class members.  Just, email me if you are interested I will add you to the list of subscribers.

Just email, if you are interested.

Walking this week - Good News - Habit of the Week - HOW

Those who exercise regularly have protection against "all cause mortality".  There is more good news, as usual, a small amount of exercise has been shown to be very beneficial.  So I am keen to share this information.  It has been recommended that 8,000 steps per day 3 times per week confers benefit.   

Remember those 10,000 steps per day that were previously recommended - 10,000 steps take a long time and aren't necessarily, based on evidence, I suspect it was a nice round number.  It has been found that 8,000 steps, only 3 times per week, can make a big difference.

So, no excuses.  The weather is more pleasant and three times a week is "do-able"

My phone counts my steps......

By the way, in my classes, the first half, that is the cardio section adds up to a whopping 4,000 steps. (it is the "8 seconds fast" I reckon)

Let's get moving.