midlifejourney.com

Guest author and fitness expert, Kathy Ekdahl shares her secrets to loosing that extra weight and staying fit and healthy.

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Q- What are the current recommendations for stretching? I keep hearing that you don’t need to stretch before exercise, but when should I stretch?

A- Flexibility is an often overlooked aspect of fitness, and the recent research about stretching has been confused by some to mean stretching is not as necessary as previously thought. Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Flexibility is still an essential part of all exercise programs, but it is important to understand when is the right time to stretch to improve flexibility. The research which you have heard about looked at whether static stretching prior to running decreased injury potential for runners. The results were quite clear- static stretches- ie held stretches for an extended period of time- did NOT decrease injuries in runners. Nor did it improve running times! Additional research since then has shown that static stretching prior to weight training, explosive speed or agility work, or stop and go sports actually INCREASED injury potential in athletes by dampening neuromuscular activity.

So, when is the recommended time for stretching? Static stretches should be done after your workouts, or on days of no workout at all. Daily stretching for 10-15 minutes can make a big difference in movement potential and chronic pain. But, make sure that you are using proper form when you stretch. Your back should be straight, not rounded. Avoid forward bending with a rounded spine- it’s the biggest culprit for back pain and injury! Know which body parts need stretching and which do not. Over stretching already flexible muscles can lead to joint instability. A good personal trainer can assess your flexibility and make recommendations. On another note, Yoga is a fabulous way to improve flexibility, and has been shown to be the one form of stretching which decreases post exercise soreness but, again, overstretching in pretzel-like poses is not good for anybody!

For those who play sports or workout vigorously, pre-exercise flexibility work should be movement oriented. This is called dynamic flexibility, or movement prep. Dynamic flexibility work has been shown to improve sports performance and should be the norm for strength training as well. There are many great books on dynamic flexibility, and one I highly recommend is Magnificent Mobility, by Eric Cressey. Eric is a world renowned strength coach with a training facility in Hudson, MA called Cressey Performance.

Kathy Ekdahl, ACE cPT, CSCS, is a nationally certified personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach, who lives in Hudson, Mass. Kathy has  worked for over 20 years in the fitness industry, and is the coach of the Hudson High School Women’s Varsity Lacrosse and Field Hockey teams. She will be answering your fitness questions each week in this column, and welcomes your questions. To send a question, email Kathy at: kathy@personalbestpersonaltraining.com.

Another recommendation by author Eric Cressey: Maximum Strength: Get Your Strongest Body in 16 Weeks with the Ultimate Weight-Training Program

Guest author and fitness expert, Kathy Ekdahl shares her secrets to loosing that extra weight.

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What is the most effective way to lose body fat?

Losing body fat is different than just “losing weight.” So, your question is a good one. Losing weight is easier…. Just go on a crash diet, lose lots of water and muscle tissue (up to 30% of your weight loss) as well as a little fat, and you’ll weigh less. But it won’t last- your crash diet lowered your metabolism by wasting muscle tissue, so now you gain weight back faster. Diet alone never results in permanent weight loss.

Instead, losing body fat means doing everything nutritionally and exercise wise to promote or maintain muscle tissue while losing body fat. This means you can not go too low in calories, or you will cannibalize muscle, and you must exercise hard to elevate your metabolism and stimulate muscle tissue growth.

As far as exercise, years ago, most fitness experts felt that cardiovascular training was the best way to lose body fat, but, recent research has highlighted the importance of hard strength training and high intensity aerobic work in body fat loss. By hard strength training, I mean multi muscle group exercises that produce muscle exhaustion. What you do, and how you do it, depends on your baseline fitness level, but whole body strength training 2-3 times a week is suggested.  As far as cardio, steady state cardio (like walking or jogging) does not produce the same metabolic increase that intervals of high intensity cardio do. SO- add some intervals of hard cardio 2x a week, and you’ll really start to burn fat.

Finally, as I mentioned above, healthy nutrition is the key to success. This is where most people really have a hard time. Many people need to dramatically change their diets, but most are unaware of what they eat and when, so food logs are an absolute. You must have adequate- but not too much- caloric intake and you must eat with regular frequency, never going too long between meals. Under eating during the day only leads to over eating at night, so skipping meals makes no sense. I believe that reducing processed foods, high fat foods, and refined and “starchy” carbohydrates can dramatically improve your health.  Instead of these foods, add more lean protein, vegetables, healthy fats and fruits, and you will lose body fat.  Eat whole, from the earth, unprocessed foods, and you can’t go wrong!

Kathy Ekdahl, ACE cPT, CSCS, is a nationally certified personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach, who lives in Hudson, Mass. Kathy has  worked for over 20 years in the fitness industry, and is the coach of the Hudson High School Women’s Varsity Lacrosse and Field Hockey teams. She will be answering your fitness questions each week in this column, and welcomes your questions. To send a question, email Kathy at: kathy@personalbestpersonaltraining.com.

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I’m a Boomer Blogger. And I’ve been working this blog for a few years. I want to make an income doing it. But I need all the help I can get. I think I found it. Membership Site Mastermind. Here is a bit of my story:

For over two years I’ve been plugging away at this blogging thing and it’s been a mixed blessing. In the beginning, midlifejourney.com was your standard website. I had plans to cover every aspect of the boomer lifestyle. Following the design of a major newspaper, The Boston Globe, the site had tabs and nav bars for everything from Fitness to Finance, Sports to Saving Money. It was too much. No way, could I keep it up. I have a full time job as a graphic designer, and keeping the website fresh and new each day was taking too much time.

I decided to invite other writers to help by contributing their words of wisdom and developed a loyal group of about ten people who consistently sent articles. But, even they dropped off after a while. Life takes over and things change. Finally, the static website just was not working.

It was about that time that I discovered WordPress and redesigned midlifejourney.com into something close to what it is today. But how do I make money at this? Sharing ideas and information was not enough. I wanted to see some income from all my effort. As you can see I have added a number of affiliate advertisements to the sidebar on this blog. If a visitor clicks through one of those ads and purchases a product, midlifejourney.com gets a small piece of the action.

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So what’s the point of this post? If you are reading this, you are probably a midlifer. If you are a blogger and interested in monetizing your blog or website, then you, like me, need some expertise to help you. Yaro Starak is one of those online blog gurus who knows the ropes and is generous in sharing what he knows. And I strongly recommend his program. If you don’t do anything else, click here to get his FREE Membership Site Masterplan Report. It’s filled with great ideas to help you build your blog.

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Thanks for reading this post. Are you making money from your blog? How do you do it?

For the Baby Boomers and Midlifers, this October – the Month of The Harvest Moon!: The focus is on Planning for Retirement. We’re talking about finance, and lifestyle choices. Planning for those days when after all your hard work you can “harvest” the rewards – whether that means travel, time, golf, or doing just what you want with your life. This post is all about life insurance – the things you need to know before you invest.

Guest authorJ.J. Yong shares some advice

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Top 10 Things You Must Know About Life Insurance

Guest Author:  J.J. Yong

The more you know about how your life insurance works, the easier it is for you to seek for the right insurance plan. The more research you have made on life insurance policies, the better for you to avoid any possible pitfalls when it comes to insurance purchase.

Here is a list of 10 key things on life insurance which everyone should be aware of,

1. Shopping around saves money

It definitely pays to shop around because premiums vary widely across one Insurance company to another. Getting yourself equipped with the necessary insurance policy information will facilitate your searching for the best optimum Insurance plan.

2. Just get what is needed

Make sure you are not under insured because you are unlikely to get the needed benefits if you are under-insured. Also ensure that you do not over-spend on life insurance because buying more than what you need is a waste of money, just get what you believe is sufficient.

3. What happens in the event of delinquent payments?

You are normally given a grace period of 30 days to make payment on your premium. However if you have not paid within the grace period, your policy will lapse. In the case of permanent insurance policy, if you are late on your payment, your cash value amount will be deducted accordingly by your number of delinquent days.

4. What is the best age to get your Insurance?

The younger you are, the lower your life insurance premiums will be. The reason is because your risk of dying is lower when you are younger.

5. The healthier you are, the better the rates

Healthy people tend to get the best deals when it comes to life insurance.They will be able to get a better rates as compared to those with health problems, e.g, smoking, being overweight or with heart disease.

6. Is the result of my medical exam crucial?

The status of your medical exam results will determine what kind of Insurance rates you will be offered by the insurance company. Your height, weight, health, life-styles are all taken into consideration.

7. Will having more than one policy cancel the other one out?

Not at all. If you have a credit life insurance policy and a whole-life insurance policy, and you paid all the necessary premiums, both policies will pay out according to the initial terms of the policy. The credit life policy will pay off your credit card balance and the death benefits will be paid out on your whole life policy.

8. Can I buy a life insurance policy on someone else?

Yes, if you have insurable interest for that person, normally for a close relative or friend, you can buy insurance for them. However, the official stipulation here is that that person must know about it.

9. Review your coverage regularly

Changes in your life signals the need for a review of your overall financial plan. Always ensure that your coverage is intact with the changes you have gone through such as marriage, birth of a child, impending retirement, retrenchment, promotion have effect on the insurance coverage that you may need.

10. Compare the ratings granted on your finalized list of Insurance companies.

These ratings are provided by several rating agencies such as S&P and Moody’s. Choose a company with higher rating which has more renowned reputation and consider for their better services and fast claim processing.

For more information about life insurance rates and life insurance companies, visit LifeInsuranceEssentials.com.

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