Summer Fit Tip

One of the many things I love about June, July, and summer in general is gardening. Full disclosure, I am possibly the most ineffective gardener on the planet, but what I lack in skill level I make up with unbridled enthusiasm. Gardening can be a relaxing and even meditative experience. Unless, of course, your efforts are completely demolished by one epic hail storm, which is exactly what happened to me last week. Ah well. But, after another trip to my favorite garden shop I was once again planting, raking, and laying down compost. That’s when I had a mental head smacking moment. Gardening offers a great opportunity to reinforce good posture, body mechanics, and even strengthen your core, legs, and upper back and shoulders while mobilizing your hips. On the other hand, you could also...

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Fit Tip: Less is More & Strong is Sexy

A strong body is a healthy body, and an attractive one as well. There is nothing more appealing than the look of sleek, toned muscles in every stage of life. But even more important than the way a strong body looks is the way it feels. Strength feels healthy, confident, resilient, and youthful. However, we do start losing muscle mass as early as the age of 30, and it is harder to build muscle tissue as we get older. But it is possible. I recently overheard two women over 50 bemoaning the fact that they couldn’t build muscles even though they were faithfully lifting weights at the gym three times a week under the supervision of a young personal trainer who was pushing them to use heavier weights and do more reps. Unfortunately, the only results they experienced were aches, pains, and...

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Fit Tip: Four on the Floor

In my previous post I shared 3 simple fit tips which I believe are crucial to vibrant health, fitness, flexibility, and youthful vitality at every stage of life, but especially for the over fifty population. Or even for the younger populations who would like to prepare ahead. Which I personally think is a great idea. After all, you don’t wait to start saving for retirement until you turn fifty, so why wait to get a jump start on your long term fitness plan as well? Today I’m going to highlight my favorite fit tip, which is to get down on the floor (and back up again) every single day. Every time I share this tip with my clients or followers (after they gasp in horror), the inevitable follow up question is “What do I do when I’m down there?” That’s a great...

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Simple Fit Tips for Youthful Vitality

As an expert in the field of health and fitness with a focus on fitness over fifty, I am often asked if it really is possible to have vibrant energy, health, and vitality over fifty. The answer is a resounding “yes!” And the inevitable follow up question is “how?” Well, I do have an awful lot to say about that, especially since I wrote an entire book on the subject, which happened to win two awards and became an Amazon #1Best Seller, but I digress. However, we all have busy lives, and in the interest of keeping things brief I’m sharing 3 simple but highly effective tips that can help keep you strong, fit, and healthy at every stage of life. And the good news is that you can do them every single day in the privacy of your own home. So, here are the tips along...

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Fabulous Fit Tip #6

FIT TIP #6: PERFECT POSTURE, Round Two I am passionate about posture, because I understand how important it is to our overall health and well-being. After working with hundreds of clients over the years, I have seen the health benefits of good posture as well as the detrimental effects of faulty posture. Our posture and our structural alignment doesn’t just affect our joints. It also impacts our organs and other physiological functions as well. Since this is a follow-up from my previous fit tip on posture, you might want to review Fit Tip #5. For more detailed information regarding posture, you can check out Chapter 6 of my book, “Forever Fit and Flexible.” In the meantime, here are 3 additional movement lessons to help you find your way to perfect posture. 1). Hold a tray Sit...

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Fabulous Fit Tip #5

Fit Tip #5: PERFECT POSTURE Spoiler alert, there’s no such thing as perfect posture, at least not in my book. A lot of us have hang ups about our posture, especially if we have ever been told we have “bad posture.” Fantastic–one more thing to feel guilty about. However, posture is an important component for our fitness and our health. So, the first thing to do is to let go of the judgement, and follow these 3 easy tips to improve your posture. 1). Stand with your back up against a wall with your feet slightly in front of you. Gently press the back of your head, both shoulders, and your buttocks into the wall. Slowly add a bit more pressure against the wall, and notice how the shape of your spine changes. Stop and relax for a moment, and repeat this several times....

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Fabulous Fit Tip #4

Welcome back to my simple and practical fabulous fit tips! FIT TIP #4: VISUALIZE SUCCESS Never underestimate the power of visualization. What you can imagine, you can achieve. Using your imagination and practicing visualization actually changes the neural pathways in your brain. Professional athletes and performing artists have used the power of visualization for years to improve their performance on the field and on the stage. It works for them and it will work for you. Visualize yourself doing some activity every day which will help you improve your strength, flexibility, balance, posture, and core strength. Focus on only one thing at a time, and truly engage your mind as you imagine the sensation going through you as you slowly perform the activity. You will be amazed at how much benefit...

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Fabulous Fit Tip #3

Welcome back to Fabulous Fit Tips, dedicated to providing simple but valuable tips to help you become forever fit and flexible. If you haven’t read the previous Fit Tips, you may want to check them out since the tips are listed in consecutive order to help make them easy to follow and commit to. Fit Tip #1 Fit Tip #2 Here’s the next tip to help keep you on track and achieve your goals. Fit Tip #3: Track your progress Now that you have set clear and specific goals, and have written them down on paper, it’s time to track your progress. Keep a diary, a journal, or other written record of your progress at a glance. Include when you have met your goals for the week as well as when you have fallen short. However, remember to leave out the judgement and the guilt if you haven’t accomplished...

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Fabulous Fit Tip #2

Welcome back to Cheryl’s Fabulous Fit Tips! As promised, I am following through with more valuable tips on how to set goals to help you in your journey to being forever fit and flexible. If you haven’t read the previous Fit Tips post, you may want to check it out, or simply review it if you have and just need to refresh your memory. Here’s the next tip to help keep you on track and achieve your goals. FIT TIP #2: Write your goals down–on paper Write your goals down, on paper. When you want to accomplish a specific goal, it’s simply an abstract idea floating around in your head with only a slim chance of following through with it. However, when you write it down, the idea has intention, direction, and purpose. Keep in mind that you need to physically write them...

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Fabulous Fit Tip #1

Welcome to Cheryl’s fabulous fit tips! One of my goals for this year is to include a series of monthly fit tips to share with you, based on my award-winning and best-selling book, “Forever Fit & Flexible.” My plan was to begin in January, but along the way I saw a shiny object and was off and running in another direction. It happens sometimes. However, now I am back on track, and as I started the series of fit tips, I found a old gem which I wrote 8 years ago regarding my thoughts on mid-March resolutions. Ironically, or shall I say coincidently, the first fit tip is about setting goals. Each consecutive tip builds on the previous one, to help give you the tools to be successful, not only in your Fit & Flexible journey, but in every single aspect of your life. FIT...

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