YouTube videos (http://www.youtube.com/user/sadienardini). The DVD has six different 60-90 minute yoga programs to choose from, with a range of…

I’ve written quite a bit (some would say excessively) about making lifestyle changes to lose weight, almost to the point where the phrase ‘healthy lifestyle,’ may have to be stricken from my vocabulary just from overuse.

I talk about lifestyle changes because I think there’s a big difference between people who focus on health and allow the weight loss to come naturally and people who focus on losing weight, which often involves restrictive dieting and frustrating episodes involving scales and swearing.

That’s one reason I found this study in Preventive Medicine so interesting. While there are any number of studies promoting different methods of losing weight (low carb diets, low fat diets, etc.), what we find is that most people lose weight. The problem? Most people gain it back, as well.

This study focused on how people responded to a healthy lifestyle program, as opposed to a weight loss program. 144 overweight and obese adults followed a 6-month clinic-based weight management program which focused on healthy lifestyle behaviors. The results? After 3 months, participants lost weight and body fat and saw decreases in total cholesterol as well as BMI. They still maintained these changes after 6 months.

This study is based on a small population of people, but emphasizes the idea that focusing on weight loss seems to work for the short term. Focusing on being healthy works best for long-term weight loss.

What do you think? Have you had more success by focusing on being healthy instead of losing weight? Is it easier to make healthy changes when you’re not focused on the scale? Leave a comment and tell us what you think.

_{Rieve, D.; Greene, G.; Ruggiero, L.; et al. Evaluation of a Healthy-Lifestyle Approach to Weight Management. Preventive Medicine. Vol 36, Issue 1, Jan 2003, Pages 45-54.}

Giving up on weight loss may be the best way to lose weight originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 09:51:51.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

A few years ago, I got a call from a woman who asked, “Do you work with old ladies?” “Yes,” I told her. “Really old ladies? Like almost 80 and can’t barely walk up the stairs?” “Yes,” I said. “Hmph. I don’t know what you think you can do with an old lady like me, but my husband says if I don’t get moving he’s going to run off with his secretary. She’s young - like 67.”

I’ll never forget that phone call or that client who did indeed have trouble walking up the stairs when I met her. After a few months and some trial and error, she was walking around her neighborhood and lifting weights on her own. She made an amazing turnaround from the frail, tentative woman I met and reminded me how important movement is as we age.

I thought about this because of a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. In the study, researchers followed more than 1,000 seniors born in 1920 and 1921. They were assessed at different ages for physical activity and researchers found that seniors who were active were less likely to die at the same age as their non-active counterparts, and that they were more likely to remain independent, experienced fewer declines in daily functioning and reported fewer instances of loneliness and poor health.

It’s pretty amazing that exercise can do all those things and, even more amazing, the results were true whether the participants exercised their whole lives or started between the ages 70 and 85. Not bad for about 4 hours of moderate exercise a week.

What about you? Are you an exercising senior or do you know one? How do you exercise and what do you think it does for you? What lessons can younger people learn from what you’ve experienced? Leave a comment and tell us about your experiences with exercise.

• Exercise for Seniors
• Combat the Effects of Aging with Exercise
• Growing Older, Gaining Weight
• Total Body Strength for Seniors

_{Stessman, J., et al. Physical Activity, Function, and Longevity Among the Very Old. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(16):1476-1483.}

Live Better As You Age originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 09:10:49.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

When you know something is right, you don’t require mountains of proof, but validation sure is nice every once in…

Deadlifts are one of my favorite exercises because they pretty much work the entire back body - the lower back, glutes and hamstrings. My clients like these, too, because they can feel their glute muscles engage and they get a nice stretch at the bottom of the movement. Also? They’re happy they’re not doing squats or lunges.

One version they tend to whine about (and I do encourage whining if it helps you get through the workout) is this one-legged deadlift. There are versions where you keep one foot on the floor for balance, which is a great transition move to try before moving on to this one. This version, however, is all about balance.

Not only do you focus more attention on the working leg, you also engage the core and stabilizer muscles to keep your body in alignment as you lower the weight up and down. This is a tough move, especially on your non-dominant side, so take your time and practice with a lighter weight if you need to. To keep it safe, make sure you keep the core braced and the shoulders back (i.e., don’t hunch or round the back as you go forward). If you do this move right, you’ll feel your hamstrings come alive and you’ll make great improvements in your balance.

Do it right: Tip from the hips and lower the weight towards the floor (back straight) while lifting the right leg straight out behind you to hip level. Contract the glutes of the right leg to pull back up and repeat for 8-16 reps before switching sides. Try to keep the foot flexed to encourage keeping the hips squared towards the floor.

Exercise of the Week - One-Legged Deadlift with a Balance Challenge originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 07:00:00.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

At some point in our lives, most of us will blame our parents for something. Sometimes, the blame is a little misplaced. For example, I used to blame my mother because she made me do chores and she made me go to school and because she grounded me, even though all I did was take her car for a little ride (without a driver’s license) and, hey, it’s not like I wrecked or anything.

Sometimes, however, parents do end up teaching us the wrong things without even realizing it. That’s never more true than with exercise and fitness. While we make our own decisions as adults, those decisions may be influenced by how we grew up. Growing up in an active environment may provide you with the foundation you need to stay active. A more sedentary childhood may creep into your adult life as well.

I’m curious about you and your history. Was your family active and healthy? Or did you grow up in a more motionless household? How do you think that has influenced your habits now? Vote in this week’s poll and tell us about how you grew up. How much do our histories influence our adult lives?

More About Family Fitness

If you’re a parent, there’s a good chance your kids will eventually blame you for something. You probably can’t escape that, but you can bypass at least one potential mistake by teaching your kids to be active now, while they’re still young enough to embrace change a little more easily than us adults do.

• Getting Your Kids to Exercise
• Teenagers and Exercise
• Getting Started with Family Fitness
• 5 Activities to Do With Your Kids

Vote in This Week’s Poll: Did You Grow Up in an Active Family? originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 07:00:11.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

If I were to gather all the people in the world with back pain and ask them to give me a dollar, I would have enough money to buy that private jet I’ve been shopping for. The sad fact is, most of us could get rid of back pain if we stood up, took our computers and smashed them into little tiny pieces (haven’t you always wanted to do that?). Since that isn’t an option for most of us, there is another alternative: Yoga.

In a study published in the journal Spine, researchers took 90 subjects with mild to moderate functional disability and put some through six months of yoga classes and the others through conventional medical therapy.

The conclusion? The yoga group had less pain, less functional disability and less depression than compared to the other group.

The classes in the study were based on Iyengar yoga which focuses on proper body alignment using props like blocks, straps and blankets. The yoga instructors in the study chose exercises specific to back pain, so you don’t necessarily want to run out and try just any yoga class. However, if you have back pain, like the rest of us, check out these resources to find more stretching and strengthening exercises that might make a difference.

• Strengthen & Stretch Your Back
• Seated Stretch for the Neck, Back & Shoulders
• 10-Minute Yoga
• Yoga for Back Pain
• Yoga for Back Health

Do you have back pain and, if so, what have you tried to manage it? Find anything that works? Leave a comment and give us more ideas for becoming pain-free.

Fit Fact: Yoga Can Ease Back Pain originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 07:00:23.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

When it comes to exercise, I like to have lots of options. Whether it’s a variety of workouts, exercises or activities, it’s nice to know that you don’t have to do the same old workouts from week to week. That’s a trap we often fall into with workout routines - doing the same thing because, first, what we’re doing seems to work and, second changing things is always a risk. What if we choose something that doesn’t work as well?

Change always involves a certain amount of risk, but it almost always pays off, especially with exercise. Anytime you do something different with your body, you fire new muscle fibers and new brain cells, which makes exercise seem fresh and new.

If you need a change or want to try something different, I’m highlighting some new content I’ve created over the past few weeks to give you some ideas:

• Chest, Shoulders and Triceps - This intermediate/advanced workout is the complement to the Back and Biceps workout I posted a few weeks ago. These split routines are great for working a little harder on each muscle group.
• Advanced Intense Intervals - This intense workout involves steady state cardio and high intensity drills sprinkled throughout to raise your heart rate and make your workout a little more interesting.
• Pilates Power Ball Sculpt - I really like this new Pilates video from Bernadette Giorgi. She incorporates a small weighted ball for added intensity, making traditional moves a little less boring. After getting away from Pilates for awhile, this workout has gotten me a little more excited about it.
• Kettlebell Exercises - I’m only just now delving into the world of Kettlebells, so I don’t have many exercises highlighted, but you may find something new to try.
• An Interview with Bob Greene - A few weeks ago, I interviewed Oprah Winfrey’s trainer, Bob Greene. I didn’t know much about him before the interview, but I was very impressed with his overall philosophy about exercise and health. Maybe you’ll find something inspiring here.

How do you keep things fresh? Do you scour the Internet, magazines or books to find new workouts or exercises or do you tend to stick with the same routine? Leave a comment and tell us about your favorite resources.

Fresh Ideas for Exercise - Where Do You Get Yours? originally appeared on About.com Exercise on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 10:03:59.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Of all the tools we use for strength training, the most important is probably one you don’t think about - gravity. Now, my grandmother says, “I never really noticed…

According to a recent article in Newsweek siting several independent sources, the traditional Christian beliefs and values on which this…