“You get what you train for” is an axiom often heard in sports training, but relevant to senior fitness as well. It means physical/functional qualities won’t improve unless you train specifically to improve them and that you keep and maintain…

Treadmills (TM) are one of the most popular but dangerous exercise tools. TM cause the most overall injuries – and serious injuries - of any exercise modality and are one of the few modes of exercise that can actually get…

September 21st is National Falls Prevention Day, so it’s a good time to talk about seniors and falls. If you’re 65+, you’re probably at least vaguely aware of the statistics regarding the risks and frequency with which seniors fall *.…

This video, which led me to this interesting study, inspired this blog post on blueberries. As a fitness trainer who specializes in working with over-50/seniors, I found it remarkable that the functional mobility of older adults could be improved in…

If you get a flu shot, and particularly if you tend to get it early, you should read this post. The issues below underscore a concept of medical care I’ve come to accept as fact from decades of medical consumerism…

Chefs always say you can’t produce good food without great ingredients. The same goes for good fitness development - you need great exercises as essential ingredients - and it’s really important to avoid risky and time-wasting exercises. That’s why I’ve…

I’ve taken fish oil supplements – omega-3s – for years now and as the second most popular supplement in a 2017 ConsumerLab.com survey, it’s clear I’m not alone. Since 2012, though, some negative study results have caused omega-3s to lose…

Too often I see people doing stuff in the gym which has the potential to be physical self-abuse, so I’d like to use this blog to help people avoid exercises which can break them down. Let’s start by getting the…

If you read my blog, you know I’m an advocate of a whole food, plant-based eating pattern (WFPB). I believe WFPB gives over-50 adults and seniors the best chance to age gracefully, overcome unfavorable genetics and counteract the dietary and…

The core, often misunderstood to be just the abdominals, is actually the whole midsection or trunk of the body from hips/pelvis to the neck. Last post, I covered why it’s so important for seniors to have a functionally fit core…

Perhaps forty years ago the abdominal crunch (AC) was originally promoted as being a “safer” alternative to the classical sit up exercise. It’s still a popular “core training” exercise today, but I haven’t used it for my clients in many…

Last post I discussed Younger Next Year (YNY), a classic book by Harry S. Lodge, M.D., and Chris Crowley, which lays out the social, biological and evolutionary rationale for seven “Harry’s Rules” to live by. This month I cover the…

This month I re-read Younger Next Year, a book by Harry S. Lodge, M.D., and Chris Crowley. I chose this month to post on it to honor the one-year anniversary of Dr. Lodge’s death from prostate cancer in March, 2017.…

For an audience of over-50 adults and seniors – my client group - I should post about topics more important than the resistance-training exercise called Dumbbell Triceps Kickback (DTK). My excuse is I’m human: I see DTK performed almost every…

This is my third and final post on whole foods, plant-based eating/nutrition – read my previous two posts here and here. This post was inspired by Admiral William McRaven’s commencement address at the U. of Texas, Austin; often called the…

Last post I wrote about a whole foods, plant-based diet as an eating strategy which is perhaps better than exercise for its positive health benefits.  Because people’s needs differ in terms of the type of information/support needed to implement a…

Nutrition instruction is not part of my professional practice - I’m a 35-year exercise professional - so my clients always express disbelief when I tell them their eating habits are probably more important to their health than their exercise habits.…

I always emphasize over-50/senior fitness begins with improving fundamental movement and body control skills. My clients typically improve movement with functional (feet-on-the-ground) exercises I teach them in the gym, but often need to build an awareness to apply the same…

If you’ve read my last two posts you’re familiar with the concepts of hip and knee dominance and understand that over-50 adults and seniors should cultivate hip dominant movement. Hopefully you’ve grooved an error-free Wall Hip Hinge Pattern (WHHP), so…

Last post I suggested over-50 adults and seniors should start fitness development by improving fundamental movement and body control skills. I outlined how joint and tissue sparing movements involve loading the hips first because they are designed to carry the…

For over-50 adults and seniors, the place to start fitness development is optimizing fundamental movement and body control skills. This is important because many aging adults express dysfunctional movement patterns which contribute to unstable and inefficient movement and place needless…

Last post I talked about the need to stand more and sit less. This post let’s talk about a simple exercise which helps create better organization of your body when you stand and also serves as an important foundation for…

This first post let’s start at the beginning by addressing the primary anti-fitness issue in our society – too much sitting. There’s a body of research on sitting that makes it clear it is quite a toxic position. Sitting has…