Month #6 - Week #26 - Stamina

"The Weekly Workouts"

Those who've attended a "Longevity Kickstart", know that our plan involves systematically working on 10 unique attributes of fitness. We also approach each of these attributes in two separate ways; a monthly approach to help us GROW and improve in that attribute, and a more regular, weekly and daily approach. This second approach is much more casual and fun in order to maintain our fitness towards that attribute in particular (Our "Use It Or Lose It" application).

We welcome you to follow this plan as we tackle our 6th month and 26th week of a two year cycle. No worries that you're just joining us now because we'll simply be repeating the cycle for as long as we can! For more information on how the plan works, you can either schedule your "Longevity Kickstart" session (the preferred option), or you can read about it on the Methuselah Fitness Project main page entitled "A Unique Approach to Aging and Fitness". I'm certain you'll recognize that this may be the surest way to ensure that the "The Rest of Your Life, be the Best of Your Life"

Month #6 Week #26

Our Monthly Attribute for May: Agility


Wrapping up the monthly focus on Agility this week! Since we've been without classes for the majority of the month, I'm really going to give us plenty of opportunity to work this domain of Agility for this entire week.

Let's remember that agility is important! We know that it's not a regular element in the majority of our active pursuits as we get older, and we also know that neglecting any element of fitness for years or even decades means we're going to lose that ability!

Our Weekly Attribute for Week #26 is: Stamina

Your "Lifestyle Application" of Stamina

In this section of "Lifestyle Application" I've traditionally focused on leisure activities related to the said attribute. While I will indeed list some leisure activities to help us to utilize the attribute of stamina, I need to remind everyone that the "Living of Life", with it's necessities and responsibilities are often enough to adequately challenge us here. Grocery shopping, yard work, our jobs & family responsibilities can all be considered boosters to our ability to push the envelope when it comes to stamina. When the "stamina" week rolls around (as it does every seven weeks for us), we simply want you to perhaps push the envelope a bit and see if we can't last, just a little bit longer, in our daily grind to just the other side of being comfortable (tired!)... Please remember too, that our attitude is important to reap these desired benefits. If we approach these challenges with a positive expectation for improvement and a thankfulness that we can still push ourselves, we're that much more likely to see those results. 

We can also approach this attribute in our leisure activities by:

• Taking any of our regular aerobic/strength activities to a longer than usual level
• Going for a long hike
• Going for a longer bike ride
• Perhaps an extra round of golf? (It's tough, but you can handle it!)
• Perhaps tackling that unusually large project around the house that you'd been meaning to tackle (Not exactly leisure unless that's your "thing")...

Since I'm not leading any small group classes at present, I'll be skipping the three daily attributes this week and I'll leave you with the above! (Should be sufficient!)

Have a good week everyone!

Month #6 - Week #25

"The Weekly Workouts"

Those who've attended a "Longevity Kickstart", know that our plan involves systematically working on 10 unique attributes of fitness. We also approach each of these attributes in two separate ways; a monthly approach to help us GROW and improve in that attribute, and a more regular, weekly and daily approach. This second approach is much more casual and fun in order to maintain our fitness towards that attribute in particular (Our "Use It Or Lose It" application).

We welcome you to follow this plan as we tackle our 6th month and 25th week of a two year cycle. No worries that you're just joining us now because we'll simply be repeating the cycle for as long as we can! For more information on how the plan works, you can either schedule your "Longevity Kickstart" session (the preferred option), or you can read about it on the Methuselah Fitness Project main page entitled "A Unique Approach to Aging and Fitness". I'm certain you'll recognize that this may be the surest way to ensure that the "The Rest of Your Life, be the Best of Your Life",

Month #6 Week #25

Our Monthly Attribute for May:

As we work through this month of Agility, it's becoming obvious that there are other attributes that contribute to our ability to move and change directions in a quick and precise manner. Balance, Accuracy, Coordination & even to some extent Power, all play a hand in our ability to remain agile!

This entire month you're encouraged to do agility ladder drills, shuttle drills, dance steps and games that involve direction change and lateral movements... Outside the gym, you should play soccer (even just kicking the ball around), tennis, go dancing (Line dancing perhaps!) and simply change things up while you walk (Sidestep hills, walk sideways or even backwards if you can be careful enough!)...

Let's remember that agility is important! We know that it's not a regular element in the majority of our active pursuits as we get older, and we also know that neglecting any element of fitness for years or even decades means we're going to lose that ability!

Our Weekly Attribute for Week #25 is:

The types of work and play that are requisite for maintaining our balance through the years are also often neglected for decades at a time. We need to work on this unsung skill until we again feel comfortable enough to utilize our balance in a variety of tasks we may be called upon in our daily lives. i.e. - Putting on a pair of socks without sitting.

This week we will be engaging our balance skills through various stepping routines, walking lines, hopping tests, single foot drills, obstacle courses and various lunging & twisting challenges. We'll call upon our balance with our some Yoga poses and I may have some equipment aided challenges for you in the gym. For those following at home, check out this following section...

Your "Lifestyle Application" of Balance

The attribute of balance is best challenged through activities that fall into the realm of "play" and the list is long:

                                
• Riding a Bike
• Ice Skating
• Roller Skating
• Roller Blading
• Skateboarding
• Skiiing
• Surfing
• Wind Surfing
• Stand Up Paddle-board
• Water Skiing
• Dancing
• Slack Lining
• Yoga

And while these activities incorporate our balance in their execution, as a lifestyle, we can always be mindful to challenge ourselves to look for opportunities to test our balance. We can, for example, work our balance throughout our day by standing on one foot while in line at the bank or tackling that balance beam we come across while walking in a park or playground. Perhaps in tying our shoes or putting on our socks (After practice and with all safety in mind, of course!)

I'm sure there are many more and I'd LOVE to hear feedback and suggestions from my readers and fellow trainers.

Our Three Daily Attributes This Week

In addition to these Monthly and Weekly attributes, our "Small Group Longevity Class" will also touch on Speed, Coordination and Power for this week #25 of the program. Classes are forming now for UXL Fitness in Brunswick, Ohio... Contact me for details and times.

Month #6 - Week #23 - Agility & Speed

Month #6 Week #23
Our Monthly Attribute for May is: Agility

How did we do last week when we dipped our toes into the realm of working on the attribute of

“Agility”? It will help if we simply slow down and try to be as accurate as possible. Practice makes

perfect and we know it’s simply a matter of doing the work to reap the results!

Let’s take a moment to remember why we’re doing this…  If, over the course of 10 or 20 years we

neglect to use this very unique and highly specialized attribute, we WILL lose considerable functionality.

If we think about it, how many individuals between 50 and 90 years old regularly engage in

activities that specifically utilize the attribute of agility (other than, of course those who partake

in the “Lifestyle Applications of Agility” which we covered back in week #6).

And why is agility important? You will utilize agility every time you:

• Lose your balance (i.e. Get surprised by a curb or a drop off in our path)
• When walking in busy pedestrian traffic on the streets
• When walking among obstacles that are regularly encountered (Puddles, Potholes, Debri in the way)

• Walking or running on trails in the park
• When avoiding anything coming your way (animals, bicycles, automobile traffic)
• In a busy store while shopping

It’s quite an opportunity for us that we can stop and focus on this attribute for the entire month!

I’m really looking forward to seeing how our metrics improve when we re-test at the beginning

of June.

Our Weekly Attribute for Week #23 is: Speed
Since we are finally starting to recycle our weekly attributes, I'll refer to a copy of week #2:

Sometimes, as we age, we'll ever so slowly, usually at an imperceptible rate, lose our ability to move quickly.

We will touch upon that today and emphasize movements and drills that challenge our overall speed.  We'll

work with bouncing balls, the simplest of agility drills to focus on speed and we'll include some lateral

shuffle/agility drills to work on thinking of moving faster. We may even visit the "8 Foot Up-and-Go" test

which will be one of the metrics we record during our month of Speed.

Your "Lifestyle Application" of Speed

You can easily include activities that challenge your sense of speed throughout this coming week. Some simple

suggestions would include:

• A game of Ping Pong.
• Basketball - No matter if it's a pick up game with friends or some practice of a cross court dribble and casual shooting, it'll all require speed.
• Tennis Anyone?
• Soccer drills in an open field or against a brick wall!
• Handball or Racquetball

While often times we'll just need an awareness of speed to see improvements (I often find myself moving

exceptionally slow while I'm walking or climbing steps). I'm sure there are many more ways to work on

maintaining our speed and I'd LOVE to hear your additional recommendations.

Our Three Daily Attributes This Week
On Monday we’ll be doubling down as our daily attribute, like our weekly attribute will be that

of “Speed”. You can expect some partner work involving some unique shaped balls that will tend to keep us

on our toes. On Wed. we’re going to delve into some work regarding  “Coordination”  and

I’m pretty certain there’ll be some VERY unique patterns to follow on that agility ladder. On Friday

We’ll be working on challenging our systems of  “Balance” with some yoga drills and perhaps a few obstacles to stand on or move through!