The Come Alive Project

Tag: exercise

  • Energy Bite 312 – New “Things” for 2020

    Welcome to 2020!

    I am re-starting these Energy Bites after a couple weeks off. These weekly messages are intended to be a refreshing and no-hype look at Health, Fitness and Personal Energy for Active Seniors. They are meant to be a wake-up call to some and an action plan for others. Regardless of your age, you should find the commentary and the messages in these Energy Bites to be useful.

    There have been lots of new people at the gym – even at 5:30 in the morning. I wonder how long they will last — I hope for a long time. In previous years the drop off starts in early February.

    How about you? Any resolutions that include Health and Fitness? Physical movement? Eating better? Taking care of yourself and taking responsibility for your own health and fitness? Have you started yet, or are you continuing?

    Coming up in 2020: 

    You’ll be seeing some video. In fact I may include some video shorts called SeniorFlow Moments as part of these Energy Bites. You can let me know if they work. You can also expect to see some Guest Posts from experts in their respective fields related to your Health, Fitness and Personal Energy. These will be written by experts who work with seniors on a day-to-day basis.

    You will begin to see more seminars, workshops and talks in 2020, particularly in the Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland areas. I may also set up some “Meet-ups” in these area for those who might be interested. I’ll keep you informed about new events on my websites which are currently being upgraded.

    As for exercise, you can expect a new program coming out later in the year called the SeniorFlow Experience designed to help the sedentary and less active senior men and women. It will emphasize moderate physical movement for strength, flexibility (muscles), mobility (joints) and stamina/endurance (ability to hang in there for a while). A more advanced program will come later for more advanced seniors.

    You will soon see upgraded websites to reflect all the new programs.

    All the above is with the goal of helping you and others like you, to have a healthier, more fit, fun, purposeful, sustainable and independent lifestyle as you get older. It’s also intended to spread the message of health, fitness and physical energy, and how to achieve it, to an ever growing group of active senior men and women.

    These things will not pop up all at once. They will take place over a number of months. You can follow the progress of these new “things” at www.thecomealiveproject.com and a sister site at www.seniorflow.net.

    2020 is here. It’s a new year and a new decade. I hope you have a happy, healthy and independent future.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 307 – Sir Richard Branson Does It.

    Sir Richard Branson owns the Virgin Brand and Group of Companies. More than 400 companies are under his control. His companies include media companies, aviation companies and even space travel companies (Virgin Galactica).

    He was asked once what he considered to be the most important thing he does that allows him to have the energy to do all the things he does. His answer? “Working Out”.

    When he isn’t traveling the world working in his 400 different businesses, he is at his tropical paradise home on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. There he plays tennis, water skis, and kite surfs, among other activities requiring a fairly high degree of physical fitness and personal energy. According to Wikipedia, he holds several World Kitesurfing records.

    In a quote from a recent article in Forbes Magazine, he said:

    “When I’m fit, when I’m healthy, when I haven’t been drinking too much, when my body is humming, I can achieve anything, and that should go without saying. The majority of us go through life where we don’t reach that peak.”

    So, when you say you don’t have time or don’t have the energy to “work out”, think about a 66 year old multi-billionaire with 400 companies to run. If Sir Richard Branson can do it, are you going to suggest that you can’t. Really?

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 306 – Binge Fitness, Does it Work?

    “Get Big Muscles in Just Seven Days“

    “Lose 15 Pounds in Only One Week“

    Have you seen headlines like this on Magazines Covers at the Checkout Line or late night television infomercials? Have you ever tried one of these instant fitness programs?

    While the Government has cracked down on many of those exaggerated claims, there are still some programs out there that seem to be too good to be true. And people buy them all the time. It’s big money.

    Is it possible to get big muscles in just seven days? Yes it is — at least bigger muscles.

    Is it possible to lose fifteen pounds in a week? College wrestlers do it all the time to make weight in a lower weight class.

    Is it a way to get healthy and fit. Not a chance. In fact, one of the huge downsides to binge fitness is that rather than increasing your energy level and looking and feeling good, all too often your energy level drops significantly, your immune system suffers, and you look and feel tired, worn out, and “out of sorts”.

    Yes, even legitimate programs will give you bigger and stronger muscles in just seven days, but not big and strong as you think of those words. If you lift weights for a week, chances are your muscles will be a tiny bit bigger and you will be a bit stronger after that one week. Will it be measurable? Sometimes. Will it continue? Yes, if you keep doing it. No, if you stop.

    All too often, people want to lose a bunch of weight quickly because they want to look good in their wedding dress, or maybe look good for their High School reunion. This is a common reason for binge exercises and diets and it can work — short term.

    I see these folks at the gym a lot. Around May, June and October mostly.

    Then what happens? After the wedding, or after the High School reunion, people stop and go back to the condition they were in before binging for the event. Or worse.

    You can lose weight quickly and you can get stronger quickly. Is it worth it in terms of your overall heath and fitness? Not a chance — UNLESS — you transition into a sensible program of good exercise and eating and continue it until . . . Whenever.

    Don’t be fooled by the headlines and the late night infomercials. If you want to lose weight or shape up, follow a sensible fitness program. You don’t have to go to the gym. You can do it at home if you follow a good self-directed program. Just remember to start off easily and progress at a slow to moderate pace. If you do that, you will look better and certainly feel better before you know it. Don’t be impatient. You will start to get stronger and fitter right out of the starting gate, but it takes time to get the kind of fitness that you are looking for. So keep at it.

    If you really need to lose weight to look the way you want in your wedding dress or for your reunion, how about planning a bit more in advance.

    Thank you for reading.