1) Neck stretches – The last thing you want to injure is your neck. Stretch your neck out slowly, without any jerky motions.

a) Side-to-side – Rest your neck on your right shoulder, and then move slowly to rest your neck on your left shoulder. Do between 8-12 on each side.

b) Front-to-back – Same idea, nod your head forward and then look up to the ceiling. Remember to do this slowly 8-12 times.

c) Rotate – Look to your left, and then slowly rotate your head to the right. Repeat 8-12 times.

2) Upper arm stretch 1 – Reach your right arm up towards the ceiling, and then bend it at the elbow, so your hand hangs behind you. Reach your left hand up and push gently backwards on your elbow. You should feel the stretch in your upper arm and shoulder. Hold for 10 seconds then switch sides.

3) Upper arm stretch 2 – Reach your right arm across the front of your body and catch it in the crook of the elbow of your left arm. Pull your arm right arm closer to your body with the help of your left arm. Hold for 10 seconds and then switch arms.

4) Chest stretch – Reach both your arms behind your back, and clench your hands together. Raise your hands slowly up until you feel your shoulders begin to pull together. You can lean forward and raise your arms even further. Hold for 10 seconds.

5) Shoulder shrugs – Raise your shoulders in a round circular motion. They should be raised upwards, and then wrapped around to the back. Repeat 8-12 times.

6) Lower back stretch – Lie down on a mat, and get ready for a yoga twist. Bend your knees, and lay them towards your left. Reach your arms out and look towards your right. You should feel the stretch in your lower back. Switch sides after 10 seconds.

7) Back stretch – Reach your arms in front of you, and clasp your hands together. Pull your arms forward. Hold for 10 seconds.

When you are done, make sure you drink plenty of water to get everything moving through and out of your system.

Remember to always make time to stretch after your workout!

Ivana Nisaro, of Carmichael Training Systems, recommends doing the following exercises five times per week, for 15-minute regimens. She recommends starting with two sets of 15 reps, and to add more sets whenever time and strength permit. These exercises are perfect for the “time-crunched” runner.

Squats. This exercise requires a stability ball. Simply rest the ball between your back and the wall, and then squat slowly until your knees are bent to a 90-degree angle. This exercise will tone your core, legs, and even butt.

Push-ups. This exercise will require a little more core strength when beginning. This is much more intense than a regular push-up. Rest your knees, shins, and/or toes on the ball. Then complete the push-up as you would a normal one. The push-up using the ball will double the effects on your core, and it will contribute to better balance and breathing.

Lunges. Again using the exercise ball, rest your back leg on the ball and bend and straighten your front knee. This exercise is amazing for building your glutes, and will strengthen your core in no time. This exercise will improve your balance after only a few short weeks.

Sit-ups. This is the quintessential core strength work out. Put your feet flat on the floor, relax your neck, and complete a rep of sit-ups using the exercise ball as your base, instead of the floor. For this exercise, your abs should be doing the majority of the work. This is the perfect way to tone your abs, and it is the standard exercise runners use to build up core strength.

Back Extensions. Using the exercise ball, rest your torso on the ball and put your toes solidly on the floor. With your hands behind your neck, lean forward and then straighten your back, with your abs resting on the exercise ball. Think of this as a reverse sit-up. It is perfect for building abs, as well as toning all of your core muscles.

The preceding exercises should be done at least two to three times per week, and will quickly build your core strength. Let me know how this works for you, runners!

The advantage of using yoga as a way to build arm strength is that you are using your body to provide resistance. It is also a good way of building strength and tone as you develop flexibility, which means less chance of injury.

Here are a few yoga postures you can practice to build upper arm strength. (If you are new to yoga, it can be good to look at pictures of the poses or work with a trainer to make sure you are correct in your form).

Easy:

Warrior poses – In the warrior pose, your arms don’t bear any weight, but you raise them either up towards the ceiling or out towards the walls. If you maintain this pose for the recommended period of 5 to 7 deep breaths, you will begin to feel the heat in your arms. Your legs are spread, with the toes of one of your feet facing forward, and the other facing out. The heel of your front foot should be aligned with the arch of your back foot. Bend your knee and sink down. In Warrior 1 your arms are above your head; in Warrior two, you reach one arm in front of you, and one arm behind. Then open your chest and lean into your front leg.

Plank pose – This is similar to a push-up in form, but you maintain the posture for longer. Get on your hands and feet as if you were about to start a push-up. Maintain this position for 5-7 breaths. Then lower down slowly, pausing about half way.

Difficult:

Side plank – Begin with a regular plank pose, but lift up on to one side. That is, you will be holding all of your weight on one arm, and balanced on your feet. Reach your other hand up towards the ceiling.

Scale pose – Sit cross legged in lotus pose. Put one hand on the floor on either side of your legs. Push up with your hands and lift your entire body so your legs are hanging. Hold this pose for 5-7 breaths.

You can also try this pose by placing your hands on the ground between your knees and thighs while in the lotus position and push up again. Hold for 5-7 breaths.

One would think that as the year went by that I would get used to them, but I can’t really say that this is true. I’m kind  of getting bored of them (to be honest), and I find myself pressing the elevator button more as I walk by to see if the elevator doors will immediately open. If they open, which rarely happens, I “reward” myself with a break from the stairs.

There is a reason why walking up stairs is so much different than walking on a flat surface. The simple answer is “evolution.” We were made to stand up. By walking, we can move with momentum, and we make sure that our weight is taken care of in such a way that makes it easy for us to walk and move; however, when you are walking up a set of stairs, momentum is not going to be able to help you out. Stairs force you to lift your whole body up and the more you weigh, the harder this action gets. Thigh and butt muscles are what you need in order to master a set of stairs. True, your pure muscular strength can get most of the job done, but in order to get up those four flights of stairs without feeling a little out of breath, you will have to get stronger.

Getting to the point where stairs are a breeze will take some time to master. You will need two things: strong muscles and good cardiovascular system. Get some runs in and tackle the stairs whenever you can. It’s more efficient to take the elevator when you are going to a location that is higher than three floors away, but it certainly doesn’t  help your fitness or health!

Thus, recovery after strength training is important, but most of us, myself included, tend to neglect this aspect. In fact, post-strength training recovery is easy, but as with almost everything else in life, requires persistence to ensure success.

One of the first things you should do following a strength training session is to consume protein. My brother swears by his post-weights protein shake, but you can easily provide the protein your body needs with a scrambled egg or two. If you’re averse to animal protein or protein in powdered form, tempeh or other legume products are always an alternative. Similarly to how you should have breakfast within two hours of waking up, protein should be ingested soon after strength training.

Keeping hydrated is another key to recovering after strength training. Aside from being an obvious means of staving off dehydration, water is a “conductor” that enables electrolyte exchange to take place in the body, i.e., it facilitates nerve impulse conduction and muscle contraction. Additionally, adequate consumption of water ensures that any weight you lose is from the loss of fat, not water.

Adequate rest is also a component of recovery after a strength training session. It doesn’t mean zoning out on the couch in front of the TV or surfing the Internet mindlessly (although many of us have certainly been guilty of that). Rather, rest means not throwing yourself headlong into more exertion, such as another set of strength training exercises, or a jog around the block.

Theoretically, strength training would have worked your muscles to their limit, and any exertion that comes after that is likely to be injurious instead of beneficial. Thus, giving yourself time to do nothing is how you recover from strength training. Sleep is an important facet of the rest and recovery period, so don’t skimp on the recommended eight hours!

No matter how young you are, it still holds true that the more inactive you are, the more muscle loss you will experience — that is just common knowledge. As you grow older, you tend to lose your muscle mass more readily than in your younger years. In fact, those who are inactive and over the age of 50 can lose up to 0.4 pounds of muscle mass per year.True, your weight will start to go down, but that is only because your muscles will probably be replaced by unwanted fat.

The study found that resistance exercise is one of the best ways to increase strength and lean muscle tissue. Resistance training will help in daily tasks, such as getting out of a chair, and it will keep the body used to performing a range of motions. Through resistance training, a person’s strength capacity will increase.

Examples of resistance exercises that even people over the age of 50 can do are push-ups (you can even modify them if you want), lying hip-bridges, or squats. Yoga, Pilates, and Tai Chi are also great activities to get involved with. One thing to remember is that you have to progress. Doing 20 push-ups every day for 5 years will not get you any further if you are trying to promote your future health. It is important to make a schedule and every week you should try to increase either the number of replications, the amount of weight, the time, etc.

Growing old does not mean that you have to lose everything that you have. You can keep working and you will build strength. Being able to build strength is something that everyone can do at any age, it just happens in a different manner. The study recommends the best way to build strength would be through resistance training, but you can also run, go for walks, and more. The key goal is to be able to function and walk around without help in the later years.

For my cardio workouts I alternate between running, using a stairclimber, and running stairs.  As a person who despises cold (and lives in New England), running outdoors becomes painful by mid-fall, which leaves me alternating between only two cardio activities.  However, as I have my schedule set to only two days of cardio and four days of strength training, it simply means that each activity is utilized once per week.

Based purely on my own observations (without researching scientific data),  I have found advantages to each:

• Time- Running the stairs is a quicker workout, about 8 minutes per set.  With two sets of 35 flights, my workout is done in 16 minutes.
• Multi-tasking- Using the stairclimber takes a little longer to get the same intensity, about 25-30 minutes.  However, with more time and no need to keep track of the number of flights, I am able to do some thinking about work, life, etc. while climbing.
• Noise- Obviously, running a flight of stairs is a little louder than using a stairclimber in the basement.  Typically, it doesn’t matter, as none of the regularly used bedroom are near the stairs.  However, when we have houseguests, that bedroom is near the stairs.  The sound of me pounding up and down the stairs at 6:30 probably isn’t the best way to wake my guests.
• Intensity- I find it easier to keep stair running an intense workout.  I never let myself climb the stairs at anything less than a hearty jog.  However, sometimes on the stairclimber, I find that my heart rate has decreased, and I need to pick up the pace.

The combination of these two cardio workouts seems to work in my weekly schedule.  I don’t feel bored with the same old workout because it’s only a once a week occurrence.  Both provide me with a solid heartbeat raising workout.  I find both meet my needs in different ways, and thus I keep two and alternate.

Recently, my husband and I were traveling.  As I don’t like missing workouts due to travel, I had packed my clothing.  Our hotel didn’t have a fitness center but offered passes to a local gym.  Typically, I would go to the gym whenever it fit into my morning schedule.  As the gym was a few blocks away, we decided to head there together, and my husband asked if I would want to complete our workout together.  It seemed like a good idea to me.

It ended up being a fantastic idea.  Working out with a partner had multiple benefits.

1. New exercises- Working out with my husband provided some variety to my typical strength training regimen.  I have added some of these exercises to my regular routine to give my muscles a new way of being worked.
2. Technique perfection- Having someone else watch me do my exercises allowed me to receive feedback.  When doing flies, I wasn’t stretching quite as far as I could have.  While it felt like I was stretching fully, I was able to see that I could give it just a little bit more.
3. Validation- For someone who never has worked with a trainer, it was good to hear that the majority of my exercises were well done.
4. Companionship- Although not a physical benefit, the company of a workout partner is good emotionally.  While I enjoy being lost in the world of my iPod Shuffle when I work out solo, it was good to have a partner with whom I could talk.

While it isn’t viable to workout with my husband on a daily basis, or even on a weekly basis some weeks, it is good to find time to workout together on a regular basis.  A little feedback and companionship make it something to add to your workout to-do list.

Muscle and Fitness Magazine

Flat-bench dumbbell press
In a chest routine, you need to build mass so that you can perform the movements in competition that really help with growth. Many people tend to use the barbell version even though there is a higher risk of injury to the shoulder and elbows. It also burns more muscle fibers while performing the movement.

Barbell bent over row
This exercise helps build muscle mass in your back. It places a a good amount of demand on your lats, rhomboids, and trap muscles. In addition to a thicker upper back, it helps with building more muscle in your deltoids and biceps.

Military press
This movement is a compound exercise for your shoulders. This exercise can be performed sitting or standing, although most lifters prefer sitting. “Lifters say it’s easier to shift the weight when you’re sitting. You don’t have to deal with too much core stabilization. Lifters who perform the exercise standing say that performing the exercise sitting puts a lot of strain on your back and produces some lordosis, a really bad strain on the lower back muscles. Performing the press standing helps promote full body strength and stability.

Close grip bench press
The single joint movements that take place while performing this press majorly help build the triceps.

Standing barbell curl
According to a lot of professional lifters, this basic curl exercise for biceps allows weight to be used in a variety of different motions. When performing this motion, you must remember to pull the weight, not throw it. Throwing the weight will put a strain on your back and cause injury.

Check out May’s issue of Muscle and Fitness to see all 9 muscle movements, as well as a step by step instruction on how to perform each exercise.

I recently saw an article in some magazine offering advice for men on how to get their biceps past the 20″ mark.  That would be a terrible problem to have.  All of us want something we don’t have.  Well, we can get there if we are willing to work for it.  All it takes is effort and tiny steps.

Step one: assess where you are.  Go to the gym and benchpress a set with a weight you’re comfortable with.  Then slowly add weight until you can’t lift anymore.  For sake of argument, it is 185 lbs.

Step two: Where do you want to be?  You want to bench 225 lbs.  It always has been a goal of yours, but you have plateaued at 185.

Step three: Create a plan to get there.  I like to deal with percentages.  185 lbs is roughly 80% of 225.  Most people  realistically can expect to increase by five to ten percent each month.  This means in two months you actually can reach this goal.

How?  Each week I do sets of 65/75/85/105.  What this means is I will put on 65% of my current max (185).  I do this as many times as I can up to ten.  Then take a two minute break and load on 75% and again push hard to ten.  The same goes for 85%.  Finally, load 105% of your max onto the bar.  This is usually only a few pounds more.  Try to get at least one, but if you can’t, have your spotter help you through a full repetition.  This is called a negative rep.  Negatives reps help train your muscles to think they can handle the weight.

Keep doing this each week until you actually can lift the 105%.  Then starting the next week, recalculate the 65/75/85/105.  You will reach your goals by taking these small steps.