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midlife-woman-lifting

Keys to Empowering Women in the Weight Room, Part 2

/30 August 2023/ All MFN blog/

In Part 1, I reviewed the ACSM study goals, statistics and barriers to weightlifting unique to women

In this article, I’ll cover the three E’s for empowering women in the weight room, and translate these recommendations into strategies that non-professionals can implement for themselves.

1. ENVIRONMENT

Understanding how physical attributes of gyms perpetuate negative messaging regarding women’s bodies and harmful myths about women’s fitness.

  • Body image as the sole motivator for exercise with full-length mirrors and posters presenting unrealistic expectations for women’s bodies.
  • Insufficient equipment and scaling options.
  • An overwhelming male presence and masculine perceptions that can complicate women’s relationship with the gym environment and diminish their confidence to participate.

Overcoming these barriers:

  • When considering an environment that is the best fit for you, avoid those spaces with attributes that make you feel uncomfortable. You may prefer a gym with more limited mirror space, and that has a more balanced male/female demographic and female trainers. An example of a more supportive environment is a typical CrossFit “box” where the male-to-female demographic is often split and you will rarely find a mirror.
  • Consider a female-only gym space.
  • Consider group weightlifting classes. As a former BodyPump instructor, I can vouch for this program as a fantastic way for any beginner to gain confidence with weights and develop a base of sound movement patterns.
  • One-on-one training is an excellent way to get personalized instruction on safe weightlifting technique and individualized goal-setting to gain confidence in the basics of weightlifting.

2. EXPERIENCE

People will often gravitate toward their comfort zones and do exercise routines that are more familiar and that are easy to execute.

  • Unrealistic expectations for results and timelines to achieve them.
  • “Weightlifting is hard.
  • Fear of injury or “being sore”.
  • “I don’t want to exercise by myself.”
  • “I don’t have time to lift weights.”

Overcoming these barriers:

  • Focusing on realistic goals of improvements in strength, movement quality, well-being, and specifically for mid-life women, maintenance of bone density and muscle mass to prevent fractures and maintain a healthy metabolism and glucose control.
  • Working with a Coach or Trainer to create a personalized program design and dispelling the misconceptions that one needs to spend many hours per week and be sore after every workout to achieve benefits.
  • Effective workouts can be achieved in as little as 10-20 minutes provided that the sets, repetitions, and rest periods are programmed accordingly.
  • Seek out gym environments that promote small-group weightlifting classes and allow members to bring a guest.

3. EDUCATION

Knowledge is power. Promoting an understanding of the principles of weightlifting and its benefits is key to debunking myths and misconceptions and building a healthy relationship with the barbell.

Common myths and misconceptions about weightlifting:

  • Resistance training is less beneficial than cardiovascular exercise.
  • Weight training is “dangerous” for women.
  • I need to spend hours in the gym to see any benefits.
  • Resistance training is not optimal for fat burning.

Overcoming these barriers:

  • Seek out opportunities to work one-on-one with experienced trainers who have experience with resistance training in female clients of all ages.
  • Take a personal “inventory” of what is most important for you to feel comfortable incorporating weight training into your fitness program and your specific goals. Do you prefer one-on-one instruction? Do you prefer a women-only environment? Is a group setting important to you? Do you have injuries or physical limitations that need to be considered?
  • Advocate for yourself. Once you have an idea of what is important for you to succeed, don’t be afraid to ask questions when visiting a facility.
  • Do your homework. Read reviews of a facility before you join. Talk to other members. Review the credentials and experiences of the Coaches who work at the facility.
  • Seek out reliable sources of information about the benefits of weight training for women as well as safe and effective approaches to the barbell for any level of experience. Here are some of my go-to’s for reliable information:

This is the time of our lives when we need to kick the societal status quo to the curb and take our health and wellness into our own hands and away from destructive narratives. The world is our oyster. We have established our careers, raised our children, and had our share of triumphs and failures. With that comes the wisdom to pave our own way into this new prime of our lives.

So, whether it’s your first back squat with a PVC pipe or a deadlift PR (personal record), congratulations on forging a new frontier to being your fittest, strongest, most vital self!

Dr. Carla DiGirolamo is a double Board-Certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Reproductive Endocrinologist who specializes in the care of reproductive age and mid-life women. Carla completed her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brown University Medical School/Women and Infants’ Hospital and her Reproductive Endocrinology training at the Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School. She is a North American Meno

Fit Pros: Offer menopausal and perimenopausal women an individualized approach to training, nutrition and wellness as a Menopause Health and Fitness Specialist.

References

  • Ford, C, Kercher VM, Kercher KA; The 3 E’s – Keys to Empowering Women in the Weight Room. ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal 27(3):p 14-19, 5/6 2023.
  • Harne AJ and Bixby WR. The benefits of and barriers to resistance training among college-age women. Journal of Sport Behavior 19(2):151-66, 2005
woman lifting crossfit-534615_1280

Keys to Empowering Women in the Weight Room, Part 1

/28 August 2023/ All MFN blog/

The hormonal changes of mid-life bring our muscle and bone mass under assault. As circulating estrogen declines and estrogen receptors in skeletal muscle become scarcer, changes in bone density, muscle mass, and metabolism become apparent.

Shoulder to shoulder with the importance of cardiovascular health, optimizing our muscle and bone health helps stave off decline in bone density which can lead to fracture, and can help mitigate the increasing insulin resistance that wreaks havoc on our changing metabolism.

To coin a phrase from Dr. Stacy Sims, there is a great benefit to women in this stage of life (and all stages of life) who “Lift heavy sh*t”. Now, if you have never lifted weights, this can sound intimidating. But don’t worry. You are not alone.

Historically, there have been many barriers to women in the weight room. Training environments where achieving a certain body image is the focus rather than building strength, healthy movement patterns, and improving body composition can be unmotivating and intimidating. The stigma of weightlifting as “masculine” or that it “makes you bulky” and the misconceptions that weightlifting is not beneficial for women are also among the many obstacles that women of all ages face.

In the May/June issue of ACSM Health and Fitness Journal, Claire Ford et al. do an excellent job of defining the obstacles that women face in the weight room and have created a framework called “The 3 E’s” that outlines strategies to overcome these barriers. I’ll take the summary points from this article and translate them into practical solutions for women and fitness professionals to empower themselves in the world of weightlifting.

The 3 E’s – Keys to Empowering Women in the Weight Room

Ford, C, Kercher VM, Kercher KA; ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal 27(3):p 14-19, 5/6 2023.

Goal of the study

Use a socioecological model to provide insight into the nature of women’s unique experiences with weightlifting and describe a practical approach for empowering women in this environment.

Some statistics

Just 2 days per week of resistance training can reap physical, mental, and emotional health benefits.

Only 25% of the US population meets these recommendations.

17.5% of women engage in weightlifting on a regular basis

Benefits of Weightlifting

  • Improves body composition.
  • Helps prevent bone loss.
  • Maintenance of healthy metabolism.
  • Maintenance of quality movements over the lifespan.
  • Promotes emotional well-being and self-concept.

Barriers to weightlifting unique to women

The notion that women face unique barriers to weightlifting has been a subject of investigation. Harne and Bixby organized these barriers into the following 3 categories:

Time / effort

  • “I don’t want to get bulky”.
  • ”I’m afraid I’ll hurt myself”.
  • “I don’t want to be sore”.
  • “I’m in terrible shape”.

Physical Effect

  • “I don’t have time to lift weights”
  • “It’s too hard”
  • “It’s easier to hop on the treadmill”
  • “I’m overwhelmed at the gym

Social

  • “I don’t have anyone to go to the gym with”
  • “Isn’t weightlifting better for men?”
  • “I like the group classes because my friends can come with me”
  • “There are too many men. I feel like I don’t belong”

The 3 E’s: A framework through which we can understand and address women’s barriers to weightlifting

After identifying and categorizing these unique barriers to weightlifting that women face, the authors created a framework upon which to overcome these barriers. This framework is called “The 3 E’s”.

This ACSM article speaks to an audience of fitness professionals and how the fitness industry can work to overcome these barriers.

In Part 2 of this article, I take this a step further and translate these recommendations for fitness professionals into strategies that non-professionals can implement for themselves.

Fit Pros: Offer menopausal and perimenopausal women an individualized approach to training, nutrition and wellness as a Menopause Health and Fitness Specialist.

Dr. Carla DiGirolamo is a double Board-Certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Reproductive Endocrinologist who specializes in the care of reproductive age and mid-life women. Carla completed her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brown University Medical School/Women and Infants’ Hospital and her Reproductive Endocrinology training at the Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School. She is a North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Certified Menopause Practitioner and has been featured in multiple podcasts and speakerships at various events discussing the physiology of the hormonal changes of menopause, hormone therapy and functional fitness training.

References

  • Ford, C, Kercher VM, Kercher KA; The 3 E’s – Keys to Empowering Women in the Weight Room. ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal 27(3):p 14-19, 5/6 2023.
  • Harne AJ and Bixby WR. The benefits of and barriers to resistance training among college-age women. Journal of Sport Behavior 19(2):151-66, 2005
feet-sleep

Exercise and Sleep: Use Your Workout to Stave Off Insomnia

/25 August 2023/ All MFN blog/

Like sleep, exercise is a free, relatively easy-to-access fountain of youth—especially for those of us who are more or less able-bodied. If you are one of between between 50 and 70 million American adults who chronically suffer from a sleep disorder, take heart. Among the many tricks that add up to a healthy sleep hygiene, you can harness the power of exercise and find that as a result you are getting more rest at night.

It is important, however, to realize that the relationship between exercise and sleep is not as simple as the formula that says more exercise always leads to more sleep. The effect of exercise on sleep can vary from person to person and depend on the time of day, length of time from workout to bedtime, intensity of exercise, the type of workout (cardio vs. strength-training vs. yoga), food and drink consumed, and fitness level. And sometimes we have to deal with other exercise-related complications: If you, say, have the misfortunate of incurring a back injury from exercise, factors like the kind of mattress you sleep on suddenly matter a great deal.

All these variables notwithstanding, it is generally true that a physically active life tends to lead to getting more and deeper sleep on a regular basis. A meta-study back in the 90s found that for the general population, exercise improves the metrics of sleep quality. The length of deep sleep, amount of REM sleep, and total sleep time all tend to increase with exercise. And, at the same time, sleep onset latency (how long it takes to fall asleep) and sleep fragmentation (middle-of-the night wake-ups) tend to decrease. A study published in the journal Sleep found that increasing physical and social activities among older adults resulted in more of the higher-quality slow-wave sleep and showed improvement in memory-oriented tasks.

But, according to a study of sleep habits of adults in their 60s published in The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, effects of daily exercise on sleep habits might be more complicated than expected. Additionally, in the short run, sleep might have more influence on exercise than vice versa. One surprising thing that was clear is that if you sleep well tonight, you are more likely to get beneficial exercise tomorrow. The reverse causal relationship in the short run is not as clear. The study participants’ insomnia improved as a result of a moderate endurance exercise program that amounted to three or four 30-minute workouts a week—but only after four months. That’s when exercisers saw the benefit of sleeping more deeply and, on average, 45 minutes longer than before. One lesson, then, is that it’s worth it to keep at it with workouts for a few months in order to see a steady and lasting effect on sleep.

Too much exercise can, however, lead to sleep disturbances. Ultrarunners and triathletes can sometimes run into this problem. For one, running attracts the more active, type-A personalities who tend to get off on the runner’s high.

“I think with the general population, vigorous exercise leads to reports of better sleep quality,” says Amy Bender, a Calgary-based researcher at the Canadian Sleep Society who helps Team Canada Olympians fall asleep. But she notes that in case of elite athletes whose workout routines are extra intense, too much exercise leads to troubles sleeping. According to a study published by Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, insomnia is one of the symptoms of the overtraining syndrome. Most of Americans, though, are at risk for what might be called … the undertraining syndrome?

Another area of conflicting information when it comes to exercise and sleep is the timing of workouts. Some respected medical resources recommend keeping your workout away from bedtime. The National Institutes of Health, for example, recommends not exercising two or three hours prior to bedtime. The idea is that vigorous exercise, especially of the aerobic sort, can be too rousing and the resulting adrenaline spike does not promote sleep. Harvard University sleep experts, too, caution that “exercise stimulates the body to secrete the stress hormone cortisol, which helps activate the alerting mechanism in the brain.” As a result, they recommend planning to be done with workouts three hours prior to bedtime.

However, a poll conducted in 2013 by the National Sleep Foundation found that people who exercise in the few hours before bedtime report sleeping just as well as those exercising earlier in the day.

“The timing of exercise ought to be driven by when the pool’s lap lane is open or when your tennis partner is available or when you have time to get away from work, not by some statement that has never been validated,” says Barbara Phillips, a University of Kentucky sleep medicine specialist who was one of the researchers working on the poll.

Our solution? Since we each know our bodies best, we can pay attention to whether or not exercising late in the day has effect on our sleep. If need be, tweak the time of exercise. If you find that exercising too close to bedtime winds you up, try saving the more quieting yoga or the more drowsiness-inducing strength workouts for the evenings and do aerobic exercise farther away from bedtime.

So long as you keep these tips in mind, along with the basic sleep hygiene guidelines, you are well positioned to draw from the two fountains of youth.

Agnes Green is a researcher for the sleep research community Tuck Sleep. She holds two master’s degrees in the social sciences from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. She sleeps most soundly after a kettlebell workout done three hours prior to bedtime, on a medium-firm mattress, to the sound of a drizzle wafting in through a cracked window in Portland, Oregon.

trainer-and-senior-male-client

Men: Let’s Take Back our Health! Five Simple Steps to Be Healthier Right Now!

/18 August 2023/ All MFN blog, Conditions/

It is no secret that we, as men, have failed miserably when it comes to our health. According to The Men’s Health Network (MHN), we die at higher rates than women from the following top 10 causes of death: heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, accidents, pneumonia and influenza, diabetes, suicide, kidney disease, and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. If you examine the list above closely, you will notice that most of them are preventable

beach-2090091_640

Healthy Aging and You: Believing in Your Value

/11 August 2023/ All MFN blog/

My experience has taught me that the key to living a happy, healthy and fit life is to recognize, appreciate, and celebrate our own individual and unique value. This thought occurred to me again in late January when I was interviewed by Kate Delaney for her nationally syndicated radio program on public access radio. She focused on my writing – specifically my book “Healthy Aging & You” – and asked me to discuss the principles and ideas that I considered important “to growing older and not old”. This idea of becoming “more” as we age is one that enlivens and inspires me each day to become the  best version of myself that I can possibly be. Through my interview I recognized – finally – that I have learned to “value myself” and this has led me to want to share with you what that means in terms of healthy aging as I now understand it.

DECIDING

The first and most important point I want to make is that we must DECIDE to value ourselves and then allow a learning process to unfold that enables and inspires us to DEFINE what that means for ourselves. For mean the value I have decided for myself is the value that comes with becoming passionate about fitness as age. I value my health above all things including family, money and time because through being healthy I get the opportunity to make my own unique contribution to life – and help as many people as I can while I am still here.

My contribution is the value I create by being committed to my PURPOSE which as I state on my website (healthyhappyfit.com) is to “change one thing in one person’s life today”. As I spoke to Kate and answered her questions, I realized I am absolutely CLEAR on what it is I am here to do and WHY I am doing it. My mission is to make a difference in the lives of people of all ages so that they too can access the benefits of a “life well lived”. Each person on the planet has been endowed with unique gifts and through the sharing of those gifts CAN create a life of meaning and fulfillment if they are committed to their vision and purpose.

CREATING

Creating the best life we can from this perspective of sharing our “natural gifts” and living from our own unique vision that embodies our “best example” of ourselves is the “true” way to health, peace and joy. As I spoke to Kate, I realized at 71 that I had arrived at a place of honesty within myself that I had never known before. I was truly “being myself” as I had always envisioned from my earliest days as a boy on Maui who loved his friends, swimming and playing. She commented on my passion and love for  my message and said that among the thousands of people she had interviewed I was in her “top 5” all time. That made my heart jump! I KNEW my value lay in my gift of expression and that I was now a legitimate “advocate” for the principles of healthy aging as I had described them in “Healthy Aging & You” just before my 60th birthday.

Creating a life of meaning and value takes time. It is something we “grow into” as we experience the life we are living and cannot be rushed or “manufactured”. It has to be real and created from “within” by the words we use daily (self talk), the thoughts we entertain, the beliefs we hold that inspire us, the choices we make, and finally, the actions we take in support of our daily goals. Where the “rubber meets the road” for me is the training that I do daily – mentally, physically, and spiritually to enhance my vision and purpose. I am inspiring people every day in my fitness programming at the gym where I train because many know me as “the old guy” running and lifting his way to fitness goals that I don’t believe exist anywhere in the country at this time.

For me being the best “example of the change I wish to see in the world” is embodied in my workouts and meditation and daily prayer work. I believe in the “inner journey” of life and not to rely on others to define me. This is MY job. Since that day in June of 1985 when I first heard a speaker say in a presentation to a national speaker’s association audience that “if we don’t know what we stand for, we will fall for anything”. I have made it my personal mission to LEARN what I stand for in life. This understanding and “knowing” came through my interview with Kate and I am hopeful and grateful every day as a result of this insight.

DOING

Doing is the final piece to the puzzle of “valuing oneself”. We have to act and create in order to live a life of meaning and contribution. I understand my future is limited and that I will never know how much time I have left in which to share my message BUT I DO KNOW I can act TODAY and that is enough. My workouts are developed from my passion for fitness and my work is derived from this basic “impulse” I have to train and be stronger and faster as I age. Today I am running 6 mile training runs at high intensity and lifting weights and stretching to insure I can PERFORM at the highest levels for my audiences in the future. This is MY REASON FOR BEING now and it suits me.

I can see me “doing” my work for years to come because I valued not only myself over the years but my  life as well. This knowledge was always within me and through my spiritual journey I learned how to measure and understand it as a part of my daily life. I am “practicing” the principles of healthy aging every day in my choosing and activities so that my presentations continue to be authentically “real” and meaningful to those I contact in the future. It is in the DOING that we become “fully realized human beings” and my guess is that we ALL want to leave behind something unique that only we could create! This idea makes sense doesn’t it? Get busy “doing” today what you CAN to become the best version  of yourself that you can be but remember to “think” first about WHY you are doing what you are doing and remain “connected” to your inner self – the only “true guide” you will ever need.

In Summary

I have shared three key ideas with you that you can use today to improve your chances of living a life you have always dreamed of experiencing. MY hope is that like me this year through my interview with Kate Delaney, you will want to discover your “true value” and DECIDE to live your life in accordance with that value. Your goals need to include every aspect of your being mentally, spiritually and physically because all three of these principles are required if we are to find our true value in becoming the best version of ourselves.

How and when you decide to act on this challenge is entirely up to you. You create and embody what you choose to BE and this includes the words we use daily, the thoughts we entertain, the beliefs that we hold, the choices we make everyday and finally, the actions we decide to take in support of our purpose. My hope for you is that you find yourself getting excited and becoming as passionate as I feel right now because I know time WILL run out for me too and I DO NOT want to leave this life with any regret – or guilt – over “what could have been” if only I had acted! Travel well.

Originally printed on HealthyNewAge.com. Reprinted with permission from Nicholas Prukop.

Nicholas Prukop is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer & a Health Coach, a fitness professional with over 25 years of experience whose passion for health and fitness comes from his boyhood in Hawaii where he grew up a swimmer on Maui. He found his calling in writing his first book “Healthy Aging & You: Your Journey to Becoming Happy, Healthy & Fit” and since then he has dedicated himself to empowering, inspiring and enabling people of all ages to reach for the best that is within them and become who they are meant to be – happy, healthy and fit – and be a part of a world where each person can contribute their own unique gifts to life.

If you need help in designing a fitness plan, you can contact Nicholas Prukop via email at runningnick@sbcglobal.net or read his inspiring book Healthy Aging & YOU.

non-exercise-activity-thermogenesis-(NEAT)

The NEAT Movement Secret to Longevity

/9 August 2023/ All MFN blog/

Do you want to live longer better without long hours spent in the gym and grueling workouts? If so, then get ready for this NEAT hack that will reveal a powerful form of simple and fun movements that can add years to your life and life to your years.  

Recent research has shed light on an often overlooked aspect of energy expenditure known as non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). NEAT encompasses the calories burned through daily activities that are not classified as formal exercise. This article explores the findings of a study published in the Journal of Exercise Nutrition and Biochemistry, which highlights the impact of NEAT on all-cause mortality and its potential for promoting longevity.

Understanding Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)

NEAT represents the energy expended in activities such as fidgeting, standing, walking, and other forms of non-exercise movements. Unlike planned physical exercise, NEAT is the spontaneous, low-intensity physical activity that we engage in throughout the day. It includes activities like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, standing instead of sitting, or even simple actions like tapping our feet or drumming our fingers. While each of these activities may seem inconsequential on its own, their cumulative impact on energy expenditure and overall health should not be underestimated.

NEAT and Its Influence on Mortality

The study published in the Journal of Exercise Nutrition and Biochemistry aimed to examine the relationship between NEAT and all-cause mortality. The research involved a large-scale analysis of data from multiple studies and demonstrated a significant association between higher levels of NEAT and reduced risk of premature death. Participants with higher NEAT levels had lower mortality rates, independent of their engagement in structured exercise. This finding suggests that NEAT may play a vital role in promoting longevity and mitigating the adverse effects of sedentary behavior.  Simple moments are the key to your life and health extension.

Mechanisms Behind NEAT’s Health Benefits

Several mechanisms explain how NEAT positively influences overall health and mortality. NEAT contributes to an increase in daily energy expenditure, which can help maintain energy balance and prevent weight gain. As obesity is a significant risk factor for many chronic diseases, NEAT’s role in weight management is crucial for reducing the incidence of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

NEAT movement also impacts various physiological processes in the body. Studies have shown they influence insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism, and lipid profiles, all of which play important roles in maintaining optimal health. And they have also been associated with improvements in cardiovascular health, including reduced blood pressure and improved arterial function.

Promoting NEAT in Daily Life

Given the potential benefits of NEAT, finding ways to incorporate more non-exercise activity into our daily routines becomes essential. Here are some practical suggestions to increase NEAT:

  • Active transportation: Opt for walking or cycling whenever feasible instead of relying solely on motorized transportation.
  • Standing breaks: Take regular breaks from sitting, especially if you have a sedentary job. 
  • Stand up, stretch, and move around for a few minutes every hour.
  • Household chores: Engage in household chores like gardening, cleaning, or vacuuming. These activities provide an opportunity to increase NEAT levels while accomplishing necessary tasks.
  • Desk exercises: Incorporate simple exercises like leg raises, shoulder rolls, or stretching into your work routine to break up prolonged sitting.
  • Take the stairs: Avoid elevators and escalators whenever possible. Climbing stairs provides a valuable opportunity to engage in physical activity.

Take your pick, find as many ways to move through your day and enjoy just how NEAT it is to live longer better.

Take a deeper dive into longevity solutions that will help you & your clients feel better, perform better, and live better longer…

Check out Dr. Melissa’s Longevity Lifestyle and Fitness Specialist online course on MedFit Classroom!

Dr. Melissa Petersen is a THRIVE Catalyst For over 25 years, she has been a sought out leader in the fields of precision health and human longevity.

As the founder of the Human Longevity Institute, a TEDx Speaker, host of the Human Longevity Podcast, author of the best-selling book, the Codes of Longevity, an adjunct professor of continuing education at Life University, a clinical educator and advisory board member for Medfit and a scientific advisory board member for Awakend, she is dedicated to up-leveling flourishing across the planet,.

She is a true change agent, on a mission, to help people thrive by design as they unlock the potential within to live their longest, healthiest and most fulfilling life. To discover what is possible for you or to learn more about Dr. Melissa and the ways to connect, visit www.DocMelissa.com and www.HumanLongevityInstitute.com

Senior-Woman-Balance-Exercise

Better Balance via Dynamic, Integrated Training

/7 August 2023/ All MFN blog/

With the right training, you can help older adults retain or regain balance and reduce fall risk. Losing balance as we age is not inevitable. However, your older clients may express increasing concerns about falling. Those concerns may be well founded, especially if their senses are diminishing with each passing year. Certainly lack of movement also contributes to balance challenges.

We rely on information from our body in space and the environment to stay upright. Both internal and external factors affect this ability (over 200 factors. Wow!). For instance, we notice where we are in relation to the terrain and anticipate and adjust accordingly. But if the information coming in is compromised – due to weakening vision or hearing loss, for example – balance is compromised. Certainly if your clients have lost muscle mass over the years, their fall risk rises as well.

Fortunately, whether you work one-on-one or with a group, you can design effective, science-based, cutting edge balance workouts. The “old school” approach of offering static balance moves to reduce the risk of falling by standing on one leg is not backed by research. Instead, offer dynamic, integrated, functional tasks and movement challenges.

Three Systems Affecting Balance

Before addressing training protocols, let’s review the three internal systems that affect balance. Let’s call these three systems “Feel Me, Hear Me, See Me.” (Any of you just get “Tommy, the Who” playing in your head?) When any system is not functioning correctly, a person can feel off-balance.

Visual – See Me: (the most heavily used system) The visual system works with the vestibular system (defined below) by sending signals from the eye muscles to the balance organs in the inner ear. For instance, when you turn your head, your eyes go in the opposite direction. If eyesight degenerates, balance becomes more challenging.

Vestibular – Hear Me: This inner ear system lets us know that even when our bodies move through space, the world is not suddenly shifting. Our legs, ankles, knees, and neck muscles also send signals that help us keep our balance.

Somatosensory – Feel Me: A complex system of sensory neurons and pathways that responds to changes at the surface or inside the body, the somatosensory system is also involved in maintaining postural balance. Proprioceptors within the joints, muscles, and inner ear give us info about our body’s movement relative to its base of support and the various body parts. Relaying information about body position to the brain allows it to activate the appropriate motor response or movement.

If any of these three systems give faulty or reduced data to the Central Nervous System, the response will be also reduced. Bad data in; bad data out. So if your clients have inner ear issues, sarcopenia or stiff feet, for instance, balance will be negatively affected.

Four Integrated Factors to Address: Balance: Posture, Strength, Cognition

In addition to taking into account the three internal systems defined above, Balance, Posture, Strength (including speed and power), and Cognition are also critical and integrated factors. If you affect one, you affect the others.

A well-designed and effective balance program will offer tasks that recognize the integrated aspect of balance, posture, speed, power, and coordination (aka cognition). Look for dynamic exercises that enhance the above.

Walking: The Ultimate Dynamic, Functional Balance Activity

The prime example is gait. Walking is our number one functional balance activity. Every leg swing through requires balance on one leg. Therefore a balance program for older adults needs to offer some form of gait training: walking slowly, walking quickly, walking with stops and starts, walking up and down steps, walking backwards, walking with frequent turns, walking around obstacles. You get the idea.

In order to accomplish these gait tasks, clients will simultaneously improve their posture and/or strength as they strive to follow your cues. For an additional posture challenge, they can put glider discs, foam yoga blocks, or small, deflated balls on their head while walking (forwards and backwards). You can cue random squats or hops or small jumps as they walk with the glider or ball staying in place.

They may also improve their cognition if they are walking while citing their childhood phone number or counting backwards by threes or naming animals in alphabetical order. To challenge their senses, you can dim the lights or play music or cue them to walk in ever-decreasing space without running into each other or anything in the room. Of course, safety is always the first consideration, so choose your variations according to your client’s or group’s abilities.

Can your clients walk and talk at the same time? We take this ability for granted, however older adults may start to walk in stops and starts if the cognitive load increases. Challenge them to maintain a constant speed while thinking through a conversation, math problem, recall task, or verbal pattern (such as naming their teachers from kindergarten through sixth grade).

To challenge their somatosensory, vestibular, and visual senses, ask them to toss a tissue or balloon or scarf in the air as they walk. Right hand toss and catch only; then left; then two-handed. Then have them toss the item back and forth with you or other group members. Do you see where you are also addressing at least two of the four integrated factors with these challenges?

Walking examples are just a fraction of the tasks, games, and exercises you can use to help your clients with their balance. For more ideas and exercises that out the above factors into action, view the related webinar, “Help Your Boomers Achieve Better Balance.”

Older adults want to ford streams when hiking, climb stairs abroad where no railings exist, recover when they do fall. In short, they want the freedom to move, walk, and balance with confidence and a spring in their (upright) step.  If you apply the concepts of function, dynamic movement, and an integrated approach, you will offer them an effective (and dare I say, “fun”) balance program.

Webinar: Help Your Boomers Achieve Better Balance

Whether you work one-on-one or with a group, you can design effective, science-based, cutting edge balance workouts. Join Kymberly Williams-Evans for this webinar to learn more!

Kymberly Williams-Evans PhD (ABD) has taught fitness to more than 40,000 participants on 4 continents in 4 languages. Her teaching career spans land, sea, and airwaves and started in the first aerobics studio in Europe. Former faculty at University of California Santa Barbara in both the Dept of Exercise and Sports Studies and English, she specializes in baby boomer and older adult group exercise. Her newly released online Better Balance course offers more than 120 videos and concise manual for both pros and consumers.

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Motivation Plus Mobilization: Coaching For Success At Lifestyle Improvement

/2 August 2023/ All MFN blog/

“I just don’t seem to have the motivation to really make changes.” This is a lament frequent to the ears of health and wellness coaches. Our clients are often puzzled by a lack of success in their efforts to start living a healthy lifestyle, or keep such efforts going. They blame it on either a lack of motivation to get started, or that their motivation fades as old habits reassert their rule.

Coaches help their clients examine and re-examine whatever sources of motivation they have mentioned. They help their clients revisit their desire to change and what drives it. They look at fear-based motivations such as not wanting to have an illness get worse, or not wanting to develop the maladies that have been prevalent in their family. They look at the love-based motivators like caring enough about ones self, wanting to be there for their grandchildren as they grow up, the intrinsic joy of dancing, swimming, tasting delicious and nutritious food, etc.

Perhaps the coach concludes, like their client, that these motivators just ‘aren’t enough’. The next step is to begin a usually fruitless search for additional motivators. Their client runs out of ideas and coaching descends into ‘what about this?’ suggestion after suggestion. What is really going on? What’s a more productive avenue to explore?

Your client may have enough motivation. They may in fact, have listed three, four or more reasons they want to change. They may possess a terrific combination of motivators. Motivation is like the fuel for a vehicle to run on. The problem might not be the fuel, but the lack of an actual vehicle! The vehicle is a methodology, a structure, and a process that facilitates change. To get where they need and want to go, the client needs both a vehicle to carry them and the fuel to put in it.

How do we mobilize motivation? By providing our client with methodology. I’ve always been amazed at how simple successful change can sometimes be when clients have a well-developed way of achieving it.

Coaches often hear their client’s frustration at wanting to improve their lifestyle, but not having much of a history of success at it. If we inquire if they have ever started their change efforts by first taking stock of their health and wellness in a really clear way, we find they rarely have. If we ask if they have ever begun by first developing a thorough plan as to how they will make their changes happen, we often find them admitting that they usually just get their will powered amped up and set some sort of goals. Rarely have they ever carried out their change efforts with the help of an ally who helped them with support and accountability. And, all too seldom have they ever keep track of their efforts at change and actually written it down.

A mentee of mine was recently coaching a middle-aged woman who complained of a lack of motivation holding her back. As we began listening to the recording, the coach helped the client describe at least four strong motivators that had propelled her into action. She realized that when her children were younger playing with them had provided her with more activity and energy. Now her energy was low and she wanted to reclaim that. She also talked about hoping for grandchildren and wanting to be a very active part of their lives. The client was concerned about her advancing age and not wanting to lose the health she had. She didn’t want to become a burden to anyone. She went on to list at least two more motivators.

As the client described her lack of success at change, her conclusion was that she was just lacking motivation. She described coming home from work tired and just fixing a quick (though not necessarily healthy) meal and watching television in the evening. “I just don’t have the motivation I need” the client lamented. She intended to be more active and intended to eat better. All she had for a plan were intentions.

Doing a great job of coaching, my mentee gently confronted his client and recited the substantial list of motivators that she did, in fact, have. He questioned whether it was a ‘lack of motivation’, or something else that was missing.

Clients try to figure out what is keeping them stuck. Unless it’s a matter of identifiable internal or external barriers, clients often say it’s a lack of motivation. They are looking for an explanation and, frankly, they often don’t know what else to call it.

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Co-Creating The Coaching Alliance

An often ignored part of coaching is the work it takes to Co-Create The Coaching Alliance. In addition to getting acquainted with our client and hearing their story, an important part of our first session with a client is to convey to the client just how coaching works. Clients are used to meeting with consultants, not coaches. They expect to be able to provide the consultant with lots of great information and hear the expert recommendations. We spoke about this from the coach’s point of view in our blog post, “Making and Maintaining The Shift To The Coaching Mindset”. The client also needs to make a mindset shift to get oriented to this new way of working with someone.

Coaching is about co-creating agreements. We co-create with our client agreements about how we are going to work together. Some aspects of our working together are negotiable and can involve compromise. However, we are not going to compromise the nature of our coaching relationship. That is, we are not going to agree to just be our client’s educator, and let go of the role of coach.

Part of what an effective coach does is to explain, in a succinct fashion, exactly how coaching works, how it is structured and what the benefits of this structure are. The client-centered nature of coaching is conveyed with real reassurance that the client remains the one in the driver’s seat.

Part of the coach’s job is to facilitate the client’s use of the coaching structure. The coach does this by showing the client how advantageous it can be to operate with a solid plan, to track one’s progress at making changes, etc. The coach provides tools that make these processes easier. Mobile apps for tracking can be recommended and then, importantly, integrated into the coaching accountability.

Mobilizing Motivation

Motivation can be puzzling and elusive, but when it is present a methodology, a structure, is what the client needs in order to mobilize it. By providing our client with the vehicle, we help them get where they want to go.

Word Origin – Coach: In the 15th Century the Hungarian village of KOCS was the birthplace of the true carriage or “coach” as the word evolved in English.

In other words we might define both types of coaches as: A coach takes you from where you are at, to where you want to be!

Originally published on Real Balance blog. Reprinted with permission.

Dr. Michael Arloski is the CEO and Founder of Real Balance Global Wellness Services, Inc. (www.realbalance.com). Real Balance has trained thousands of wellness coaches worldwide. Dr. Arloski is a board member of The National Wellness Institute, and a founding member of the executive team of The National Consortium For Credentialing Health and Wellness Coaches. He is author of the leading book in the field of wellness coaching: Wellness Coaching For Lasting Lifestyle Change, 2nd Ed.