As we discussed at the beginning of this newsletter, we are spending greater time and more years of our life working than ever before. Retiring is a life-changing event which provides all sorts of opportunities, but as many will concur, it coincides with a decline in physical activity, health and wellbeing. Once reaching 50 it is common for many to start thinking about retirement and making plans for their future.

But in order to enjoy a fit and healthy retirement, it is crucial that we maintain our physical fitness through the fifties and beyond. One key element of fitness that should not be overlooked is strength training. Regular strength training has huge benefits in general, but especially for the over 50’s. Apart from just feeling better, strength training helps us resist the natural functional decline that goes hand in hand with the aging process.
​
As time is scarce, it’s important that you don’t waste your precious time doing ineffective exercises in the gym. Instead, focus on the most beneficial types of strength exercises — those that work multiple muscle groups at once and mimic the activities of daily living.

These three exercises can be performed anywhere, as they require no equipment, no space and very little time!

PRESS-UPS 

Step 1
Starting Position: Kneel on an exercise mat or floor and bring your feet together behind you.

Step 2
Slowly bend forward to place your palms flat on the mat, positioning your hands shoulder-width apart with your fingers facing forward. Slowly shift your weight forward until your shoulders are positioned directly over your hands. Re-position your hands as needed to allow full extension of your body from the knees without any bend at the hips. Stiffen your torso by contracting your core and abdominal muscles ("bracing").

Step 3
Downward Phase: Slowly lower your body towards the floor while maintaining a rigid torso and head aligned with your spine. Do not allow your low back to sag or your hips to hike upwards during this downward phase. Continue to lower yourself until your chest or chin touch the mat or floor. Your elbows should remain close to the sides of your body or flare outwards slightly.

Step 4
Upward Phase: Press upwards through your arms while maintaining a rigid torso and head aligned with your spine. Do not allow your low back to sag or your hips to hike upwards. Continue pressing until the arms are fully extended at the elbows.
*Press-ups can place stress upon the wrist joints. Try gripping dumbbells by their handles rather than place your hands on the floor, to alleviate some of this stress. If you are pressing from an elevation such as a dumbbell, you do not need to lower your chest or chin to the floor, but rather lower yourself until your chest or chin are level with the dumbbell handle.

 SQUATS 
Step 1
Starting Position: Begin standing with your feet slightly wider than hip-width, with the toes turned slightly outwards with your hands by your sides so the palms facing inwards. 
 
Step 2
Stiffen your core and abdominal muscles (“bracing”) to stabilize your spine. Hold your chest up and out, tilt your head slightly up, shift your weight back into your heels while pushing your hips towards the wall behind you.

Step 3
Downward Phase: Start the downward phase by first shifting your hips backwards then downwards to create a hinge-like movement at your hips and knees simultaneously. As you lower your hips the knees will then start to shift forward slowly but try to control the amount of forward movement. Maintain tension in the core muscles and attempt to keep your back flat.

Step 4
Continue to lower yourself until your thighs are parallel or almost parallel with the floor, until your heels begin to lift off the floor, (aim to keep them down!)or until your torso begins to round or flex forward. Keep checking your feet, ankles and knees, ensuring that the feet don't move, the ankles do not collapse in or out and the knees remain behind your shoelaces.

Step 5
From the Lowered Position: the knees should continue to remain over the shoelaces and body weight should be evenly distributed between the balls and heels of the feet. Viewed from the side, the shinbones should be parallel with each other.

Step 6
Upward Phase: While maintaining your back, chest and head-up position, exhale and extend the hips and knees by pushing your feet into the floor through your heels. The hips and torso need to rise together while keeping the heels flat on the floor and knees aligned over the shoelaces. Continue extending until you reach your starting position.

Think about inhaling on the way down and exhaling while exerting on the way back to the initial standing position.
 

PLANK
Step 1
Starting Position: Kneel on an exercise mat or floor and bring your feet together behind you.
Place your elbows close to your sides and directly under your shoulders, palms down and hands facing forward. Contract your quadriceps to extend your legs and pull toes towards your knees Contract your core and abdominal muscles to stiffen your torso.

Step 2
Try to maintain a stiff torso and legs, avoiding any arching (sagging) in your low back, hiking (upwards) in your hips or bending in the knees. Avoid shrugging your shoulder and keep your shoulders positioned directly over your elbows with your palms facing down. Continue to breath while holding this position for a specified time (5 - 30 seconds).
If you experience any pain in the low back with this movement, stop the exercise immediately and consult with your doctor.
 
You may experience a few aches or pains the following day. But, while some muscle soreness is a good sign that you’ve had a decent workout, you should never be so sore that you have trouble sitting, standing, walking or raising your arms overhead.
 
Finally, remember that to build strength and muscle, consistency is key. If you start slowly, progress gradually and stick with your program week after week, you’re bound to be impressed with your results. ​

FREE TASTER SESSION SATURDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER
 
Improve your wellbeing and achieve your personal goals by embarking on a unique personal coaching plan that helps you to achieve your goals in all areas of your life. If you want to:

• Manage weight loss
• Improve performance in sport
• Manage stress, anxiety and depression
• Develop strategies to handle challenging situations
• Improve your studies or education

 
Miracleworks coaching combines the science of Positive Psychology with Virtual Reality to enable you to develop new neural pathways in your brain that help you connect how you perceive the world with how you feel in your body. If you think of it as developing a new muscle to support your wellbeing, this can take time. Based on research, it takes about 2 months to see notable changes with daily practice. Daily practice is not onerous. 1 minute of mindfulness has been proven to reset our brains. Such practice builds resilience, and scientific evidence proves that these are the building blocks of wellbeing and happiness. 
We recommend a minimum of three to twelve sessions to help you build these ‘pathways to wellbeing’ after which we will discuss what is required going further, because each person is unique.
 
Our work is based on the latest scientific research into resilience including findings from positive psychology which is the study of the positive aspects of human nature such as well-being, happiness and flourishing.  In the words of its founder Martin Seligman, it is the:
 
“scientific study of optimal human functioning [that] aims to discover and promote the factors that allow individuals and communities to thrive”
 
Virtual Reality is an immersive experience, and helps with stress, anxiety and weight management. Virtual Reality sessions are face to face. We do provide online support during the programme as well, to make it cost effective, as this really supports you in achieving your goals.
We will be running an introductory ‘wellness DROP in sessions’, each month, focussing on specific areas of the psychological and psychical wellbeing.
https://www.miracleworkscoaching.com
​