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At one time or another, even the most devoted person has had to put their workout program on the back burner. It happens. You have an illness, an injury or personal issues that prevent you from continuing your workout program. When it’s time to get back to the gym, you may be a bit nervous or even feel a little out of place. It’s almost like starting over, even if it has been only a few weeks. Taking it slow initially is the first recommendation. Only movie stars and professional athletes have a time frame to get bulked up fast. You’re better off taking it slowly at first.

Take baby steps at first.

The longer you’ve been away from workouts, the further back in your training you must go. A few weeks won’t require you to take giant steps back, but a few months is quite different. Don’t mentally refer to the point you were at when you last exercised. It has no relevance. Act like you’re a beginner and spend the first week taking it slow.

The amount of strength you lose depends on many things.

Lots of things affect how much strength, stamina and flexibility you lose. The amount of time you’re not working out, the reason you took time from the gym (was it for an injury? Illness? A demanding job?), your age, you diet, your fitness level and genetics. If you suffered from an illness or injury that required bed rest, you’ll have a harder time getting back into shape than someone who still was active, just not in the gym. The older you are, the slower you need to take it.

Keep the intensity low.

No matter what you think you’re capable of doing, do half of that, especially the first few days. If you find you aren’t getting too sore, beef it up a bit. No matter what amount of weight you lifted before you left, remember, your body has lost its conditioning and not only do the muscles need to adapt to training again, so do the connective tissues. If you quit working out after just a few months of training, you should probably restart your program where you did at first. The good news is that your progress will be far faster than it was initially.

• How you take care of yourself in your time off makes a huge difference. If you partied hardy, drinking and staying up late, while also eating junk and processed foods, you’ll have far more ground to cover than if you maintained a healthy diet.
• After just a few weeks of no exercise, you may lose as much as 15 percent of the strength and stamina you had before you quit. After three months, you could lose about 80% of the strength gains you made when working out.
• If you took time off because of an injury, work with a personal trainer to ensure you’re getting the best program to rebuild the muscles and avoid future injuries.
• Take it easy the first week. Don’t push yourself. It’s easy to get gung ho and want to make up for lost time, but it also could set you on the road to injury or at least, discouragement and some very painful muscles.

I am always impressed and flattered by people from Oceanside who ask if I can help them get fit after 40. I’m impressed for a lot of reasons. The first is that it’s tough to ask for help, even from a professional, especially when it comes to exercise. After all, hasn’t everyone been exercising in some form from the time they were young. I’m always honored when someone comes to me and wants to change their future by taking better care of themselves. Change is tough, and that’s reason number two that it’s harder for people over 40. They have more years of habit to change than someone in their 20s. Finally, I’m impressed because it is harder the older you get. Your body has been losing muscle mass since about age 30.

It doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it. Of course, you can.

While I can’t give you specific exercises for people beyond the age of 40, primarily because each person is different with different needs, I can say you’ll work hard, but never beyond the point you’re safely capable of achieving. We use a lot of different types of exercises at our bootcamp, some of which you may not be able to do because of physical limitations. That’s why I always ask you to share any special needs, such as knee problems or back problems that might require me to modify the form of the exercise.

Don’t expect immediate progress and never compare yourself to someone else.

If you check around and notice younger participants are getting stronger faster, don’t give up. As you age, sarcopenia— the loss of skeletal muscle mass that occurs with aging—plays a role, but according to all studies, the best medicine to reverse it is exercise. In fact, exercise and a healthy diet can reverse sarcopenia and get you back on the road to looking and feeling younger. Your progress may be slower at first, but once you’re back on track, you’ll be amazed at how much you can do.

You need all types of training to get back into shape.

While we do a lot of strength and resistance training here, we also do balance and flexibility training. Each has their place in your fitness program. Resistance training is strength training. It may include lifting, body weight exercises, resistance bands or any exercise that puts tension on the muscle fiber so it can start the process of growth. It leads to the process of that stimulates growth-promoting hormones to repair muscle tissue. When combined with endurance/aerobic training, it’s been proven to reverse muscle loss caused by inactivity and sarcopenia. You also need balance and flexibility training to reduce the risk of injury.

• Sometimes excess weight causes inactivity. Unfortunately, the more you sit, the more weight you gain. Exercise helps shed pounds and boosts your metabolism.
• Improving your diet is a positive step to building muscle tissue. The average person’s diet may require more protein, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D. Luckily, a walk in the sunshine helps supply vitamin D.
• HIIT—High-intensity interval training can lead to changes that actually influence health and muscular strength at a cellular level.
• Exercise can lower your risk of many serious conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. It’s been proven to even reverse conditions like high blood pressure and insulin resistance, the precursor to diabetes.

When your joints ache and are stiff or swelling, the pain can range from debilitating to bothersome. You don’t have to live with pain, like an estimated 30 percent of adult Americans do. You can get relief from joint pain using a number of techniques, based on the cause of the pain. Joint pain can come from a variety of causes that range from osteoarthritis to injury. Even poor posture can lead to joint pain. Many people find that as they age, just like other parts of their body, the joints age too, leaving them with stiffness and pain.

The problem may not come from aging, injury or previous injuries, but from inactivity.

Originally, the pain may have come from injury, but when the injury healed, the real problem probably started. Inactivity can be one of the leading causes of pain. Not only does it lead to muscle weakness, it reduces the range of motion. That ultimately leads to even more pain and babying the painful joint. In order to have healthy joints, you need to exercise. It can actually reduce the joint pain.

Weight loss can relieve some joint pain.

If your knees are aching, losing weight will definitely help. It relieves the weight and pressure on the joint. It’s also noted that arthritis strikes obese people twice as much as it does people of average weight. A study on osteoarthritis showed that by just shedding 11 pounds, it reduced the risk by 50 percent in younger obese women. In older males, switching from the classification of obese to overweight cut the risk by a fifth and for women cut it a third.

Epsom salts is an old standby that works.

Not only does Epsom salt help relax strained muscles with magnesium. It also contains sulfur. Sulfur is necessary for the joints and the connective tissue. By soaking in Epsom salts, the sulfur and the magnesium is absorbed through the skin, benefiting both the muscles and the joints. Using turmeric when in pain can prevent stomach upset that can come from traditional pain relievers, plus provide other benefits for your body. It’s a potent anti-inflammatory that has shown promise for aiding many afflictions.

• Exercise improves posture and poor posture is one cause of joint pain.
• Choosing the right type of exercise is important. The constant pounding of running is not good for knee joint pain, but the buoyancy of swimming is. Make sure you tell your personal trainer of your condition before you start an exercise program.
• Hot and cold packs are also good for joint pain. Apply the hot pack first for 20 minutes, then follow it with a cold pack for 20 minutes.
• Consider some of the new alternatives for joint pain, such as whole body cryotherapy and float therapy.

If you’ve found you put on a few pounds or just want a more nutritious diet, you can create your own healthy sack lunches and boost your nutrition, while lowering your calorie intake. There’s also been a lot of focus on whether school lunches are healthy or not. If question the choices for your child’s school lunches, consider packing them a healthier version. Sack lunches can provide all the nutrients you need and even be delicious.

Make a tasty salad for yourself, but don’t put on the dressing.

One of the things that make salad soggy is adding the dressing ahead of time. Having a small thermal jar available with a tight fitting lid is important. You create your salad in a container that also has a tight fitting lid, leaving a small area at the side for the salad dressing. Pack it in an insulated container. One of my favorites is meatless taco salad. It’s not only healthy both kids and adults like it. Stack romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, black beans that are rinsed and drained and shredded cheese in the jar. You can use your favorite salad dressing for toppers. Add a side of fruit. Packing lunches in thermal containers with a bottle of frozen water can help keep it fresh.

Get creative with pita pockets.

Pita pockets make lunch more fun and you can stuff them with anything. I love brocoslaw in mine, but then, I just plain love brocoslaw. I’ve had a delicious recipe that used barbecue onions drizzled on top, too. You can include sliced beef, lean chicken, even packaged salad, always making sure the dressing is packed in a side container to add later. Occasionally, I use a creamy dressing. Then, I use a small thermal container to transport it.

Create a pasta salad.

You’ll have the perfect filling lunch when you create a pasta salad with loads of veggies. One of my favorites uses grilled vegetables, which include zucchini, red onion and bell peppers but I’ve included other grilled veggies too. I’ve even tried grilled tomatoes. Brush the veggies with olive oil before grilling, then add them to the cooked pasta. You can make a dressing that travels well from a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, a bit of honey—about a teaspoon or less, a handful of basil leaves, 2 tsp of lemon zest, 1/3 cup of lemon juice and and an equal amount of extra virgin olive oil. Put the ingredients into a blender or food processor until creamy.

Create a salad in a jar. Raw broccoli has more staying power than greens and so does grated carrots and chicken. That’s why you can add the dressing to this one before you leave the house. Mix plain yogurt with ranch dressing and add to the jar. Eat it out of the jar or in a pita pocket or tortilla wrap.

• Need a cold pack for your thermal lunch bag? Try freezing Greek yogurt. The texture changes a bit, but it’s still good for you. Do a test run before you pack it in the lunch bag and see if you and the kids like it.
• Raw veggies and homemade hummus are a great addition to a sack lunch.
• Try pinwheels made with a variety of nut butters and dried fruit. Slice the crust off bread. Slather it with cashew, almond or any type of nut butter and sprinkle on dried cranberries or other dry fruit. Roll into a long log, insert toothpicks to hold together and slice for a yummy sandwich.
• Hints for better sack lunches include using greens that are less likely to wilt—kale, cabbage and radicchio instead of lettuce or spinach. Stick with dressings that have an oil and vinegar or citrus base.

You’ll be amazed at all the benefits a program of regular exercise can bring. It can even help discover the hidden you. Of course, part of that hidden you is a dazzling body, improved strength and great flexibility, but there’s even more from great bonuses from exercising on a regular basis. The first is the surge in confidence you get, both from feeling stronger and looking fit. Exercising helps improve your posture, so you’ll actually walk with more authority and look more confident in the process.

The hidden you will receive a brain boost from exercising.

That’s right! People who workout improve their memory and ability to learn. In fact, several studies show that exercise can help reduce the risk and even prevent Alzheimer’s disease. It boosts the blood flow to the brain and helps maintain healthy brain cells. It also causes the body to trigger create more brain-derived neurotrophic factor—BDNF, which stimulates the creation of neurons and protects or repairs the cells of the brain.

Exercise helps burn off the stress hormones created throughout the day.

Have you had a bad day at the office or were the kids or traffic driving you crazy? Don’t scream at the driver in front of you, go to the gym and start feeling great again. When you’re under stress, your body creates hormones that prepare you for fighting or running away. They create changes in the body that left unchecked, can create potential harm. Working out tricks your body into thinking it fought or ran, so the hormones burn off and you go back to a calmer you, that feels great.

Rev up your immune system with exercise.

Sure mom always told you that chicken soup and rest is good for what ails you and she’d be right. Chicken soup does have curative powers and rest is always good for colds and flu, but she’d also be wrong if you had a chronic condition. HIIT workouts, based on a person’s fitness level can help a number of chronic conditions. It can aid in controlling conditions that range from heart failure to type 2 diabetes. One study showed that after a stroke, recovery was quicker when exercise was part of their program. It even helped people with COPD.

• That hidden you may be a lot happier than you think. When you exercise, the body releases hormones that make you feel happier and at peace.
• Of course, the hidden you is not only confident, the hidden you has the perfect body that has lean muscle mass and greater endurance.
• The hidden you has more agility and greater balance, so you’re far more graceful than you ever were before you started exercising. It also builds hand eye coordination.
• Exercise helps your body improve its fat burning ability. It boosts your metabolism as it breaks down fat cells for fuel. Losing weight is far easier after just one year of regular exercise.