I want to encourage you – any time you need to go upstairs in a building – don’t take the elevator. Find the stairwell, and your body and mind will appreciate the few more minutes that it takes. This is a wonderful article about the huge benefits of regular stair climbing.

By Nancy Bruning  My most recent article was all about how you can use the steps and step streets in northern Manhattan as part of your fitness plan. As a reminder, the reasons you’d want to climb stairs at every opportunity include: it’s a low-impact alternative to running; it builds muscles in your lower body; it improves your endurance; it increases your metabolism and helps burn fat; it’s efficient; and its’ free. In this article, I’ll add a little-known surprising benefit that I didn’t know about until recently. In case you haven’t noticed, we have lots of indoor steps too and that means we have a health club wherever there are stairs. Why not take advantage of this convenient exercise tool—whether at home, at work, or at school? I often recommend this tactic to my clients who have trouble fitting formal exercise sessions into their busy lives, or can’t afford health clubs or don’t like them. You’d be surprised how easy it is to sneak in a couple of stairs here and there throughout the day. Because stair climbing is more intense than walking, and every little bit counts, you don’t need to do it for very long to reap the benefits. For the past six years, The New York City Department of Health has partnered with The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects on a yearly conference, “Fit City.” Each year, key thinkers and practitioners discuss how we can make the city more fitness friendly. Part of the plan is to creatively re-think building design in order to encourage people to take the stairs whenever they can, instead of the elevator or escalator. One recurring theme has been to encourage architects to design buildings with staircases that are located up front, and elevators towards the back (the opposite of what we have been seeing). They also could be more attractive to be in, with windows or skylights, or retrofitted with artwork and pleasant colors. I remember one year, the staircase at fashionista Diane von Furstenberg’s new offices were presented—the hope was that by making the stairs an open design and decorating it with hundreds (thousands?) of Swarovski crystals, employees would be more likely to scamper up and down the staircases. Dr. Karen Lee, Director of the Built Environment at the New York City Health Department, believes that, “Daily stair use is an easy and inexpensive way for people to incorporate physical activity into their life. Stair climbing is a vigorous activity that can burn more calories per minute than jogging. Just two minutes a day has been calculated to burn enough calories to prevent the average yearly weight gains seen in U.S. adults. ” That’s pretty impressive! According to Dr. Lee, “The NYC Health Department has been working with building owners and managers to get more stairs in buildings opened up for daily use. We also make available for free by calling 311 simple and effective signs that building owners and managers can post at elevators and escalators to encourage people to ‘Burn Calories, Not Electricity. Take the Stairs!’” And it seems that simply posting the signs really works, according to Dr. Lee’s study, which was recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Signs were posted in three different types of buildings. Right after the signs were posted, stair use increased 9.2% at a health clinic, 34.7% at an academic building and 33.6% at an affordable housing site. At the health clinic and affordable housing units the signs were left in place, and increased stair use was pretty much maintained at a nine-month follow-up. While delighted with these results of indoor stairs, Dr. Lee reminds us, “Additional opportunities in NYC such as outdoor street steps can also be incorporated into your daily routine when you encounter them or into an intentional exercise routine.” In case you find climbing stairs to daunting for some reason, don’t worry—it’s also good for you to go DOWN the stairs. In fact, going down the stairs is actually better for you than going up—in some ways. Studies show that while climbing up stairs (or walking uphill) is a great way to get a cardiovascular workout and lower triglycerides, descending the stairs (or walking downhill) is a better way to help control blood sugar—which could help stave off diabetes, or contribute to controlling it if you already have blood sugar problems. Going either up or down helps reduce LDL cholesterol. Stuart Dean, a local yoga/qigong instructor, says, “Walking down stairs actually works the leg muscles in a way that is quite different from climbing stairs.” It has to do with the way the muscles are worked—simply put, going up they contract, going down they stretch. Dean continues, “It seems that when you do stretch work you are engaging a very different set of neural pathways and calling upon a very different set of nutrients than you otherwise do. Science has a long way to go in understanding this but it seems that the chemistry underlying stretch work helps counteract and possibly prevent the breakdown of internal metabolism that results in some types of diabetes.” He also points out that the injuries resulting when an older person falls often are ultimately fatal. “And stairs are often where those falls occur, especially when going down them. As it turns out, though, it is possible that the reason elderly people tend to fall down stairs is that they have not been doing enough stretch work. Ironically, then, it seems that the elderly should be practicing going down stairs!” Dean offers some tips on going down stairs: Never have your hands in your pockets; always try to have at least one hand free; and if you are over 50, try to stay at least near the side of the stairs and the handrail if there is one. So, if you have diabetes or if you are over, say, 50, talk to your health care provider about exercise that emphasizes stretch work (you might want to use the phrase ‘eccentric muscle contraction’ to get their attention, since this is what it is called in technical language). Just for fun, if you start climbing stairs in earnest, you might like to know that many major cities hold tower running or stair race events in their most notable tall buildings, including the Empire State Building in New York. And there’s an app called Monumental to track your steps and translate that into climbing a real Monument, such as Mount Olympus, and challenge your friends to compete. It then supplies you with views and allows you to share your achievement on Facebook and Twitter. For more information and to download the NYC Department of Health sign to print and post in your building: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2008/pr033-08.shtml Nancy Bruning has a master’s degree in public health, is a certified personal trainer, and is the author or co-author of over 25 books on health and fitness. Her next book, “Nancercize: 101 Things to Do on a Park Bench” will soon be published. She also is the Chair of the Friends Committee of the Fort Tryon Part Trust and leads “Nancercize” outdoor fitness experiences and weight loss workshops. Visit Nancy’s web site at www.Nancercize.net, hear her at www.blogtalkradio.com/Nancercize, or email her at nbfitinthecity@aol.com .

Thanks to Manhattan Times for this interesting post.

I have found it real inspiring to have role models in life, whether in business, relationships or staying fit. If someone else can exercise when they are 60,  why shouldn’t I be able to? If I learn about a person my age or older running a marathon, I am inspired to at least see if I can run a 5K- with a lot of training, of course.

So here are a few real inspiring stories of women who are doing more than most women half their age.  If this inspires you to action, leave a comment below, and let us know your story, OK?

59 Year Old Woman Looks & Trains Better Than You

Meet Rayca, the 59 year old woman who looks better, trains smarter, and lifts more than most women half her age. … Not exactly what you’d expect an almost 60 year old woman to look like, huh? … a woman who rows and squats and deadlifts and bench presses and just generally trains correctly overall, what advice would you give to the majority of women out there who think the key to getting the body they want (“fit and toned”) involves hours and hours of aerobics classes and doing …

Publish Date: 01/31/2012 12:57

Carol Evans, now 81 years old and student of Master Coach-Kevin Jodrey, performs a 10 minute Long Cycle set.

Carol had a terrible inner ear infection as a kid and lost a good portion of her equilibrium and hearing as a result. Always a very strong woman, both mentally and physically, she had gotten bored with normal gym fare and thought she might try the kettlebell class we offered-and she loved it. Carol began using a 10 pound bell for short sets and eventually got up to short jerk sets with the 12kg and 30/30 in the swing with the 12kg. She went over 180 in the snatch in ten minutes with one switch using the 8kg ball. She trained 4 days a week for 14 months.

For more information on American Kettlebell Club, visit: http://www.AmericanKettlebellClub.com

Kirstie Alley And Her Triumph Over Dropping Pounds

The renowned 60 year old Hollywood celebrity is actually considering getting married to someone more youthful, lively, courageous along with brave. Surprisingly, she appears more youthful, hotter along with more sexy than …

Publish Date: 02/05/2012 2:25

Fit Hero: 60-Year-Old Trainer Barbara McKeon

So this week we’re celebrating Barbara McKeon, an incredible 60 year old fitness instructor (whose birthday just happens to be today!) who says her … That class was successful and soon I began teaching it regularly. Then I …

Publish Date: 10/26/2011 9:38

Wales’ Oldest Female Fitness Instructor – Welsh Icons News

Peggy Sullivan is Wales’ oldest female aerobics instructor – and has no plans to retire in the near future!

Despite celebrating her 80th birthday on Sunday, 5 February, Peggy says she sees no reason to stop doing what she loves, with her weekly classes in Rhondda Cynon Taf still pulling in large crowds of keep-fit fanatics.

While many people of her age would be quite content to sit back and take it easy, Peggy is the perfect ambassador of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Leisure for Life campaign.

Her classes at the Michael Sobell Sports Centre in Aberdare are proving as popular as ever, with more and more people than ever before turning to a Rhondda Cynon Taf Leisure Centre in 2012.

Leisure for Life is a highly-successful Rhondda Cynon Taf Council campaign that aims to get people of all ages active and undertaking exercise in a bid to improve their health and well being.

It is all about talking simple steps to make exercise part of your daily routine and reaping the benefits alongside potential weight loss, enhanced fitness, muscle gain or even improved socialisation.

Publish Date: 02/04/2012 10:26

Walking is a wonderful way to easily get a lot of exercise. I once walked for 14 months straight – every single day – rain, shine, snow or ice.  This gave me a lot more confidence knowing I can stick to an exercise program – if I really want to.

I have discovered through not only walking, but reading quite a bit on the subject, that 45 minutes is the optimum time for your walk. Sure, if you only have 15 minutes, that’s OK. But if you can, build up to 30 minutes per day, and then to 40 and 45 minutes.  This will give you the optimum cardio and aerobic exercise.

I found a few articles that will help you out if you are contemplating starting a walking program. Let me know what you are doing, and if you also find that walking is a wonderful habit to help you stay fit.

Top Ten Summer Physical Fitness Ideas!

Summer is fast approaching, here is actually our top ten checklist for making come july 1st your own fitness and best yet!

• One. Set a goal. It may be to run the 5k or to lose a stone. Then break your ultimate goal into more compact portions, such as a every week instruction plan or perhaps a weekly weight loss target. Write your own objectives and focuses on lower and set all of them someplace you can see it everyday as a reminder to maintain going.

• 2. Reveal your ultimate goal along with friends and family, you could even go a measure further a post your ultimate goal upon Facebook. This will make you responsible for your actions and you are more likely to not give up….read more.

A Walk A Day

The popularity of walking as a fitness activity has grown by leaps and bounds. Low-risk and easy to start, walking has proven its health benefits in numerous studies. An eight-year study of 13,000 people found that those who walked 30 minutes a day had a significantly lower risk of premature death than those who rarely exercised. In addition, research has shown that regular walking can decrease total and intra-abdominal fat and reduce your risk of developing diabetes or breast cancer.

A regular walking program can also:

• Improve your cholesterol profile
• Lower blood pressure
• Increase your energy and stamina
• Boost “couch potato” bone strength
• Prevent weight gain

Experts at the CDC and National Institute of Health recommend that every American adult engage in 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity just about every day of the week. One way to meet this standard is to walk 2 miles briskly (about 4 miles/hr). If this is too fast,choose a more comfortable pace.

Get Ready

A walking program is simple to start. All you need are comfortable clothes and supportive shoes. Layer loose clothing, keeping in mind that brisk exercise elevates the body’s temperature. Shoes specifically designed for walking or running are best. Make sure you have a little wiggle room between your longest toe (1/2″) and the end of the shoe. Avoid cotton socks since they….read more..

I noticed in my local newspaper on last Monday, that this week is the National Ride Your Bike to Work Week. With the higher price of gas these days, riding your bike is not only a great exercise, but can save you a bit of money. May is also National Bicycling Month.

I am getting more and more excited about riding my bicycle. It is a wonderful form of exercise that is very interesting because you get to experience the great outdoors and have the opportunity to ride with and get to know a group of like-minded bicyclists.

You may be wondering “what does it cost” to get a half-way decent bicycle – one that will serve you for a few years at least. You can spend way over $10,000 for a bicycle, but there are a number of fairly nice bikes in the $250 -400 range. My bicycle is about 25 years old and I paid $850 for it when it was new. It is still a very nice bicycle, a little outdated, but everything works great.

Here is an example of a nice bicycle at a good price from Amazon.

I recently took my bike in to a local shop to have new tires and tubes put on, and to give it a good overall alignment and adjustment. The way it rides now hasn’t felt better in years! If you have a bicycle, take it in and have it looked at. Most small shops are very competent and will let you know what it needs and whether it is a good fit for what you want to do.

Safety is a big issue with bicycling, especially since we many times share the road with vehicles. A good fitting helmet is a necessity. A few companies make great bicycle helmets. My favorite is Giro. They make a wide range of helmets – all colors and all different styles.

I am finding out that if I just have 20 to 30 minutes, I can still get a decent amount of exercise on my bicycle. I have a few 30 minute “courses” around my home area. I like to push fairly hard, it gets my heart going and I am building muscle and cardio endurance. When I have more time, going for about an hour ride is more involved – but still I am up for it.

My goal for this summer and fall is to do at least a 50 mile ride, and possibly a 100 miles. It is also important to have experience riding in a group. Most local bike shops sponsor a few rides each week. Contact one of them and let them know that you are looking to ride with a group and want some coaching and instruction about rules and etiquette. They usually have a “new rider” group that you will feel comfortable in.

If you have thought at all about riding a bicycle, give it some more thought. You may even catch some “bicycle passion” and become a 100 miler a day kind of person. This will take a while, but don’t be too surprised if you end up loving the sport.

exercise program

Many good-intentioned people don’t ever start an exercise program because of negative misconceptions they have heard from others. But once these errors of understanding are cleared up, there are many opportunities to begin a new, exciting and healthy exercise program. This article will point out and clear up the top 5 reasons why people don’t exercise.

1.  Failure to set meaningful goals. If you start an exercise program without any clear goal in mind, it’s like jumping in your car and driving around in circles. Someone once said it this way: “If you don’t know where you are going – you are already there.”

What a clearly defined goal will do is help keep you focused and assist you in staying motivated. Goals shouldn’t be so hard that you lose interest. Keep them simple and step by step. What I mean by this is have a time frame of maybe 12 weeks. Map out on paper what small increments you want to achieve each week. If it is tied into weight loss, maybe losing 1/2 pound each week would be a great motivator. Have something down on paper that will challenge you each week and allow you to feel like you are progressing.

2. No Pain – No Gain. Don’t just dismiss your pain. It is your own body’s method of alerting you that something might be wrong. Don’t get all worried about a little pain when you start an exercise program. Your muscles will feel sore – that’s normal. Just listen to what your body is telling you. And don’t be so gung-ho and go running 8 or 10 miles, when you haven’t even gotten comfortable with running one mile yet.

Start off slow and add to your difficulty each week. A general rule-of-thumb is to increase your exercise program about 10% per week. Let’s say you are riding a bike 3 miles x 4 times a week. The next week don’t go off and ride a 25 miler. Instead increase your rides to about 3.5 miles x 4 times/week.

By being smart and building your exercise program steadily, over time, you will be amazed at how much you can do, and how great you will feel. And the real benefit of a goal driven exercise program is you will be much more immune to sickness and disease.

3. Sacrificing Quality for Quantity. Let’s say you have been lifting weights for a few weeks. You are now ready to increase the reps of a certain exercise that you like. Here’s something different to try. Instead of struggling to do a few more reps each time, why not decrease the number of reps in a set, and then increase the number of sets.

Here’s another strategy: back off to only about 1/2 of your regular reps and then add a couple more sets. YOu will feel less tired and still get the muscle training and gain that your are working for.

4. Weight Training Makes Women Bulky. Weight conditioning for women does many wonderful things for them. Like it will strengthen and tone her muscles, increase metabolism and also burn fat. This doesn’t really build mass. One viewpoint is that since women don’t produce testosterone the way men do, they can’t produce the muscle mass as men many times do.

5. Over-Emphasizing Your Strengths. Learn to concentrate your exercise program on your whole body – your whole person. If there is a part of your body that is weaker than other parts – concentrate on building strength in the weaker area – at least one day per week. As your whole body gets more and more in balance, you will feel even better.

There are many great books that you can tap into for more information and inspiration. I recently dug out of my bookshelf an old paperback that I hadn’t looked at in years – Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s Aerobics. The information he shares is still very timely – and priceless. I love the stories he shares of how people’s lives were totally turned around – by developing their own exercise program – and then sticking with it.

Bicycling to work, huh? This summer I pulled out my old bike, and checked it out. It was still in excellent shape and the tires were just a little soft. I bought the bike about 20 years ago, and paid over $800 for it, so it is still a nice road bike – just not up to date! I filled the narrow tires up and checked the seat height.

I work 3.5 miles from home, so riding a bike to work is not that difficult. In fact, the more I got into riding, the more I wanted a “longer” ride to work.  I enjoy riding “too” work more than coming home. It is the added traffic at 5:00 p.m. that makes it more annoying and slower going.

One thing I am getting very excited about is bicycling a LOT more next spring and summer. There are bicycle clubs in most cities, and they sponsor rides almost every weekend.  To ride with them, you will be required to sign a release and you MUST have a helmet. If you join their club, you will only sign a release once a year.

The two biggest concerns I have about cycling at my age is my knees and my back.  These are the two biggest physical concerns for all cyclists. I will go into more detail about how I am trying to keep my back in shape for riding – in another post.

I wouldn’t go out and buy a new bike until you know this is what you really want to do. If you get half-way serious about biking, you should expect to pay around $1000 for a good quality entry – level road bike.

Too bad I live in Michigan and my bicycling is coming to an end because of winter. Now to get more serious about walking and maybe running – again!

Any bicyling wannabees out there, or bicycling nuts?