Hello Men,
In my previous email, I discussed the importance of goal setting. Today, I would like to share with you my top 10 health and fitness blueprint guide specifically designed for men over 50.
1) Circadian rhythm
This is the backbone and the foundation to recovery sleep and general energy levels this is all based on sunlight, make sure as soon as you wake up in the morning to get actual sunshine on your eyes! Looking through a window is not counted it has to be direct sunlight (make sure not to look directly at the sun) do this for at least 2 minutes. furthermore, to avoid staying up too late refrain from looking at artificial light before you sleep, the light itself can trigger your body in thinking it is daytime still and thus make you not want to sleep.
2) Enjoying working out
When it comes to working out always make sure you find an activity you ENJOY DOING if you are unsure look back at your teenage/childhood/young adult memories, ultimately it needs to be something that is sustainable and you see yourself doing in the long term
Here is a simple example if you HATE going to the gym but want to find a muscle-building alternative TRAINING AT HOME with a few dumbbells/kettlebells including your own body weight is a great start better yet it’s SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE
3) Quality not quantity of training
You don’t need to be working out for hours anywhere between 5-45 minutes is likely to be enough to fulfill your fitness goals throughout the week
4) Frequency
Although working out and being active every day is fantastic and highly recommended! we are still human beings so let’s not get ahead of ourselves, aiming to actively exercise 2-3 times a week is an optimal start on which you can build on.
5) Nutrition
Being aware of what you are eating is fundamental to success! Do the following thing Write down everything you are eating, and drinking including the quantity and amount for 7 days (however unhealthy it is) the whole idea of this exercise is to make yourself aware of what and how much you are eating, from the information you have collected can start to take real action and start to amend your food choices
6) Daily simple Movement
Don’t underestimate walking and standing and moving- you’ll be surprised how those extra few hundred calories can be burnt by simply moving a bit more
7) Do not sit for too long
quite simply sitting can cause postural/ stiffness and mechanical issues (i.e one side/muscle of the body is shifted in a certain way more so than the other), especially in your neck shoulders hips and back region. It can also reduce the blood flow which is the key to recovery and good cardiovascular health, I’d recommend every 45 minutes stand up and walking around and literally shake your body out
8) Examples of total fitness exercises and protocols
-Cardiovascular endurance (aerobic)- running, skipping, swimming, rowing, walking, cycling continuously for over 2 minutes or (anaerobic) 10-120 seconds
-Muscular strength/power- squat deadlift bench press, in rep ranges of 15 repetitions or above for hypertrophy (building muscle) 8- 12 reps
-Muscular endurance (any of the strength exercises above) other examples press ups, lat pull down, abdominal crunches, lunges for over 12 repetitions
-Flexibility– there are many methods to work on flexibility such as static. Ballistic, passive, contract-relax including implementing weights and resistant bands, I’d suggest at the start to keep things basic and simple and maintain a static stretch through each movement anywhere from 10-60 seconds
For example-
-Standing squad stretch
-standing Touching your toes trying to keep your knees straight
-standing Wall calf stretch
-standing Door frame chest stretch
-Laying on front cat stretch
Body composition (body fat to muscle ratio)
We all aspire to have low body fat aiming for -10%
-using a diary to write down everything you eat
-using an app like my fitness pal to track all your calories (it’s free)
-weighing your food if you feel this works better for you
-planning your daily meals
-pre-prepare food the night before can help keep yourself accountable
-there is always a place to eat all the foods you enjoy as long as you balance things out through the week and be mindful of what’s going on i.e tracking everything
9) Recovery
You probably hear this time and time again making sure you get between 6-8 hours of sleep is essential for muscle repair mental/cognitive health and performance, doing specific recovery workouts is very important and is underestimated i.e low impact activities that focus on blood flow flexibility/ and movement this will help you stop feeling stiff the next day and enable you to perform your next workout more effectively without feeling so exhausted and sore. Include regular sports therapy massages and dead sea salt baths (cold and hot) and use of saunsa for better-enhanced recovery
10) Help and support
No matter what level of fitness and knowledge you have it’s always a sensible approach to have some coaching and support feel free to shoot me an email back or even better set up a call and we will go through how best to achieve your goals
Thank you
Eytan
