Thrifty home exercise equipment: ten tips

The cost of gym membership can seem like a luxury in these cash strapped times – especially if you don’t go as often as you should.

Even the most committed gym bunny may want to top up at home between visits. Setting up a home exercise area can be a great way to stay fit without spending a fortune.

The key is – don’t try and reproduce what the best gyms offer. You certainly can’t buy the highest quality machinery without serious money. That’s really what a gym membership buys – use of great equipment without the outlay. Read more

Stay flexible with core strength training

You really need to focus on core exercise as you get older.

Although loss of muscle tissue starts as early as in our 30s and 40s, it’s later in life that we really start to notice how much those changes affect us.

As muscle fibers shrink and become less flexible, our backs are no longer as strong as they once were and our stomachs start to look flabby.

Back pain is a very common complaint and a painful back is a very aging condition preventing you from holding yourself upright with confidence. Read more

Learn to relax your way to stress relief

Learning a simple relaxation technique can really help you to manage stress.

Relaxation helps you deal with the stress you’re already experiencing and helps ensure you avoid dangerous levels of stress in the future. You may believe relaxing is just collapsing on the sofa watching your favorite TV program.

That may help – but your mind can still be full of worries. For effective relaxation you need to clear your mind of anxiety. You need to learn how to do this effectively and you need to practise.

If practising how to relax seems a bit strange then try the following relaxation technique which works for a lot of different people:

• Lie down or sit in a comfortable chair in a quiet and undisturbed space with your eyes closed
• Tense each part of your body and then allow it to relax and empty your mind of all thought
• If thoughts come into your mind just listen to your breathing and focus on breathing in and out
• Visualize a scene of peace and serenity with yourself as part of it

You can adapt this technique to make it personal to you or use another that works better. Whatever relaxation technique you choose you need to practice it even when you’re not feeling particularly stressed.

Get into the habit of having a regular relaxation session using your chosen technique. As part of the relaxation session use a set process so you develop a set of signals which tell your mind: “I am now going to relax..”

For example – you may choose a certain sofa to lie on, take off your shoes and place them in the same spot, use the same special cushion for your head, play the same piece of music, light a candle which you only use for relaxation – you get the picture.

By practising relaxation when you aren’t feeling stressed and using the same process over and over – you train your mind and body to relax in response to key these key signals.

Whatever set of signals you use – always repeat them in the same order for your relaxation session. Then when you need to use relaxation as a coping strategy for stress – just follow the set steps and you will be able to relax much more easily despite the stress you are feeling.

This relaxation technique is a classic coping strategy for stress – using simple steps like this helps to diffuse the feeling of stress which otherwise can be harmful to your health and your looks.

How to cope with stress

Learning how to cope with stress is vial for healthy aging. The effects of stress impact on your looks and your health so you need a few tricks up your sleeve to help you cope when it matters.

Here’s some simple tips – coping strategies in the jargon – that help you cope with stress better so for when life throws bad stuff your way – you’re ready.

Time out is a great coping strategy for stress. In a short term stressful situation – something like a highly charged argument or conflict – taking time out for 5-10 minutes works wonders. Read more

Why managing stress matters

Managing stress is one of the most important things you can do for your health as you get older

The causes of stress are things that our subconscious minds perceive as threats. Whether real or imagined our brain reacts in the same way to any ‘threat’ – by pumping stress hormones into our bloodstream.

These hormones bring about immediate changes in the body’s biochemical state. We’ve all experienced what happens next – raised blood pressure, palpitations, anger, fear, worry or aggression. In short, stress upsets our normal bodily balance. Read more