Season’s greetings to all my wonderful readers.
May the next year bring you health, joy in life and relationships, success with your work, and many new discoveries and exciting adventures.
This festive season, I would like to talk about committment.
We might tend to think about committment as something associated with relationships - looking after each other, growing older and wiser together, overcoming challenges, building a better future.
And we can also apply the same thinking to our health, movement, and self-care.
We don’t habitually neglect our significant other half, parents and children and we show them the same level of care and support throughout the year… right?
Why would we not offer the same continuous committment to support our health - the most important asset that we have?
During this festive season, let’s not succumb to pre-Christmas overwhelm and busy-ness and neglect our health. It’s all too easy to spend the day rushing around and then collapse on a sofa late at night day after day - then feel really unfit and low on energy by the start of the new year. It will feel even harder to return to healthier movement then.
Little and often, continuous committment to movement and health will serve us all well.
Did you know that…
our muscle building potential peaks in our thirties? After this our muscles can start wasting away unless maintained. We can lose 8% of our muscle mass per decade! This is called “sarcopenia”.
as muscle mass starts to melt away, our bones can also weaken - this is called “osteopenia”. Osteopenia can lead to osteoporosis, or brittle bone disease. For women especially, this is speeded up by the changes in their estrogen hormone profile with the menopause. Some countries' research indicates that up to 50% of women, and 25% of men, develop osteopenia (statics from Singapore). That is a lot!
As the above processes go together, we then suffer an increased risk of frailty, fractures, leading to reduction or loss of independence.
Movement - cardio, resistance, flexibility, and balance training - are essential for counteracting these effects!
Here are a few simple ways to keep in shape during this festive season - and every day thereafter.
And you don’t need any special props!
Watch my special video HERE to check out best form.
Strength training - keep your muscle mass up
- Full body exercise: Inchworm
- Legs: Squats and lunges
- Upper body: Push-ups and Tricep presses
Cardio training - get your heart working
- Running on the spot
- Walk up and down the stairs
- Star jumps
- Walking lunges
- Lateral shuffle
Flexibility training - maintain your agility
- “Doorway hang” stretch
- Chest stretch in the doorframe
- Wide legged squats
Balance and coordination training - keep your brain sharp and aware
- Single leg balancing
- Cross body walk
Pepper in these exercises and stretches into your day and your festive period will be all the healthier for it. And you will be so much more ready to spring back into your normal routine come January.
A couple of places still left in my next term classes starting 9 January (Monday 11:30am in Colehill, Wednesday 7pm in Wimborne and Friday 11am in Colehill), plus Monday 9:50am over Zoom. Give me a call to book your place, or book online via my website
https://www.move-beyond.co.uk/book
To your health, Kaye