I should start out by telling the 3 people that read this article my back ground. I am 53 years(soon 54) old. When I was 44 I suffered heart failure of the aortic valve(which was replaced) and I still have Mitral Valve Prolapse. I was 270 lbs. and only 5'10, in addition I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, attrib fib. I became prone to panic attacks(which kicked in my attacka cardiac). Additionally I went into the hospital with a Bacterial infection(due to should surgery) and I was on 24/7 anti-biotics for 4 months(this was only 6 months ago).
I am telling you this so you know that I am not some fitness buffed Guru, that has never had worse than 11% body fat and runs 20 miles a day 7 times a week and eat nothing but Spinach, Wheatgerm and Tofu, who is going to feed you a line of how to get strong like him and have the perfect body(I am NONE of those). What I am is a guy who at the age of 17 did not care about his health, at the age of 27 did not think about his health, at the age of 37 considered his health and at the age of 47 felt his health had passed him up.
Yes I use to lift weights and run(a little), like many people do when they are younger, but as age came on me, helped along by my sedentary lifestyle(all I do is sit in front of the computer all day and work on games) I did nothing but sink lower and lower into self disgust and pity. One day I was looking at all the pills I was taking, one for depression, one for cholesterol, one for ADD(yep you heard right), one to sleep, one for my heart....and it hit me. I was older than I should be and I was the one allowing myself to become that way. So I decided to go to the gym and "kick the old age habit" so to speak.
Before I did that though ,I decided to research(did I mention I was in front of a computer all day?). I looked at all the various exercise programs, walking, light weights high reps, swimming, bike riding, aerobics, hiking, getting a trainer(not to mention the various diet programs) and on and on and on...my one conclusion they took to much time out of my day or they looked to hard or both. So what could I do? This is what I came across and decided to try(actually it is a hybrid ). Check out some of my resources so you know what I know below in Author Resource Box.
Also here are some research studies done that show what 1 day a week of strength training can do for you:
Arthritis Relief - Tufts University recently completed a strength-training program with older men and women with moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis. The results of this sixteen-week program showed that strength training decreased pain by 43%, increased muscle strength and general physical performance, improved the clinical signs and symptoms of the disease, and decreased disability. Strength training was shown to reduce the pain of osteoarthritis at an equal or higher level than medications.
Restoration of Balance and Reduction of Falls
As people age, poor balance and flexibility contribute to falls and broken bones. Strengthening exercises, when done properly and through the full range of motion, increase a person's flexibility and balance, which decrease the likelihood and severity of falls. One study in New Zealand in women 80 years of age and older showed a 40% reduction in falls with simple strength and balance training
These are just two issues that can be addressed, but now lets get into what did I do to actually increase my strength and thus my physical and mental health:
First I told myself rather than time only, I would do the exercises so if I finished them sooner the 25 minutes then that was my reward. If I was still doing them at 25 Min's I would stop. These are all OLD SCHOOL ISOMETRICS exercises designed not to harm or stress you to the point of pain, but to stress your muscles and bones for growth.
So here is what I did:
Day 1 - GIRLIE PUSH UPS - this is a push up where you are on your knees and hands so as not to have to much weight. I tried 10 but could not do 5, so what I did was to hold my self in a straight arm push up position for a count of 10. This allowed me to get use to the weight. I would then sit back slowly(no getting dizzy) and rest for a count of 30-60 and depending if I could do it I would then go back into the hand push up position and do the same thing(however I did try to do 10 but got to 5 only) and then helped it for 10 seconds and then slowly at back and rested for 60 seconds. I did this a total of 4 sets.
DOORWAY EXERCISES - this is where you stand in a doorway and you use one side of the doorway jam as your weight or your resistance.
Face Slap - you don't really slap but you extend your right hand an place it against the wall(chest level). You face the way your palm is place(like holding a tennis racket) then push against the wall for a count of 20, you then turn the other way and place your left hand palm flat on the wall and press (arm extended for 20 seconds). you then lower your hand rest for a few seconds and begin again with your right hand for 20 seconds then your left hand for 20 seconds. You do this a total of 5 times on each hand(or 5 sets for 20 seconds each). If you are doing this correctly you will feel your front shoulder, stomach and chest tighten. If you don't then you are probably reaching to open the fridge :-).
Back Hand this is the opposite of the Face Slap position. Your hand is at chest level but on the other side of the wall so that your back of the hand is open and pressed against the wall. you are facing you hand as well. You then press your hand(against the wall for 20 seconds, when done you do the opposite hand on the other side of the wall for 20 seconds. You repeat this for 4 sets or 4 on each hand.
Lift the Doorway you are in the doorway and face the door jam you have been working on and place both hands at waist level, you bend your knew about 4 inches(not to low) and press both hands together on each side of the wall. While pressing your hands together(with the wall between) you then try to LIFT the wall with your legs keeping EVERYTHING tight. You count to 10 and then relax. wait 30 -60 seconds and repeat this(you do it for 4 reps at 10 seconds each) don't forget to rest between.
LIFT the HOUSE with this you need a chair, place the chair in the middle of the doorway(a small stool works well). Straddle chair and place each hand on the door frame, then slide down to a sitting position.Once in that position then raise yourself about 3 -5 inches above the chair with knees bent grab the door frames and try to pull the house off of its foundation using your legs first then hands. You must stress this for about 10-30 seconds then slowly let go and sit back down on the chair. If you do this correctly you will feel it in your legs, you shoulders your arms, your hands, stomach and even triceps. You do this 4 times resting between each set.
What I have given you are 5 Power Based ISOMETRIC EXERCISES that will help to BEGIN to make your power base. If you are older than 50 and have done little to no exercise and If this was done with focus and concentration you will be sore for at least 2-3 days, do NOT try to do it again right away unless you are 100% NOT SORE. If you feel you can do it again do the same ones but apply GREATER pressure for each set and increase counts by 50% more. Do not do more than 2 times in one week. This entire routine will not take longer than 25 minutes and for most it may take only 10-15 minutes. Do this exercise routine for 2 weeks and I will add additional programs that are working for me.
So the idea is for Simplicity, Time, Urgency, Power, Intensity and Determination in other words we want to keep the whole idea of creating a Strength base for our health STUPID Simple so anyone can do it. So this takes no going to a gym,no buying all kinds of equipment and if you play it right you don't have to even leave the kitchen ;-). In a week or two as you become stronger I will add some different exercises that you can mix and match these with. Oh and also I am not trying to sell you any diet stuff. I just like how this is working for me and I am passing it on to you.
