At 50 Years Old, Fitness Expert Gingi Ray Shows The Guys How It’s Done!
Fitness over 50 isn’t only for men, just ask Gingi Ray.
bmf.c: Tell us about the physical activities you stay involved in.
Gingi Ray shows men over 50 how it’s done!
Gingi: I love lifting weights! I compete in the NPC bikini division. In the past, I have completed the Chicago Marathon (2010) and the Florida Four half marathon series. I would like to be able to devote more time to learning tennis and this week, I am taking a swimming lesson. (I cannot swim) !
bmf.c: Why the interest in this area?
Gingi: I started competing after seeing another girl, who was also a little older at the gym. I asked what she was doing and she referred me to Team Bombshell. After seeing the photos of the incredibly strong and beautiful women, I knew that I wanted to compete. It is challenging at 50 to hang with the girls in their 20′s, but a lot of fun!!
bmf.c: How do you stay in shape for your activities?
Gingi: My coach creates a monthly plan for me that includes weight training and cardio. I do both five days a week.
bmf.c: Tell us about your workouts. What do you do? How often?
Gingi: My plan trains a different muscle group each day. I also have a plyo day. My cardio is all strength building and I use the Continue reading
Lifestyle Disease – Killer of Men Over 50
If you’re a man over 50, the biggest disease threat you face is your own lifestyle
Men over 50 can control their longevity
Most men over 50 have heard about and read about the leading causes of premature death in their age group hundreds of times. Unfortunately, very few men recognize the common denominator to premature death: their personal lifestyle choices. “Genetics is the gun, lifestyle is the trigger’ said nutritional expert Ryan Fernandez of QUA nutrition.
Following are the top ten causes of premature death in men over 50:
- Heart Disease
- Cancer
- Unintentional Injuries
- Stroke
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Lung Diseases)
- Diabetes
- Influenza and Pneumonia
- Suicide
- Kidney Disease
- Alzheimer’s Disease
No coincidence all of these premature death causes have the same factors in common:
- Obesity
- Poor diet and nutrition
- Sedentary lifestyle lacking vigorous exercise
- Smoking
- Drinking
So brining Mr. Fernandez’s quote into perspective, while we may be genetically predisposed to certain vulnerabilities, our lifestyle choices become the true driving force behind the probability of early death. Therefore, it’s time to begin thinking in terms of the true cause of premature death over 50: Lifestyle Disease.
The good news, our course, is that we can do something about lifestyle disease. Most men at one time or another harbor thoughts and anxieties about a surprise diagnosis showing Continue reading
Rehabilitating Osteoarthritis After Age 50
For men over 50, osteoarthritis rehabilitation requires both consistency and persistence
Rehabilitation provides an option for osteoarthritis in men over 50
If you’re a man over 50 and have received an osteoarthritis diagnosis, you need a game plan. While most orthopedists can very accurately identify this degenerative joint disease, very few can offer a viable rehabilitation regimen.
Rehabilitating an osteoarthritic joint provides the very best non-surgical option for maintaining joint useability and, more importantly, an active lifestyle allowing you to do the things you want to do.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease where the soft cartridge deteriorates. This soft cartridge provides the smooth, soft, lubricated surface where important bones join together, including shoulders, knees and hips, held and moved by tendons and by muscles. When the cartridge goes, you’re left with an uneven contact surface at best, and bone-on-bone contact at worst.
Joint-replacement surgery provides an option for worst-case scenarios, but these procedures are highly invasive and not always necessary. As an osteoarthritis patient, you may want to consider the rehabilitation route as a first alternative. Ultimately, joint-replacement surgery is a personal choice, but attempting rehabilitation makes sense as a first attempt at Continue reading
Retirement? Masters Athlete Bob Minshall is Just Getting Started!
At age 66 far too many men are hanging it up. For Bob Minshall it’s time for a new beginning centered on fitness training.
BMF: Tell us about the physical activities you stay involved in.
Bob Minshell, 66, showing his stuff
Bob: Presently a certified personal trainer (ISSA) and nutrition specialist (ISSA) also an NPC competitive bodybuilder. I didn’t compete until 2 years ago. I will be entering my fourth contest in the over 60 masters class. Presently I train clients in my own fully equipped gym.
BMF: Why the interest in this area?
Bob: Since I am retiring from my full-time position as the Director of Facility Operations at a high-rise retirement community here in Louisville KY in two weeks after 26 years there, I thought it would be a good idea to keep active and since I have been weight training for over 25 years, I thought it would be a good time to get the above certifications, the first of which I received a little over two years ago.
BMF: How do you stay in shape for your activities?
Bob: Weight training, cardio, supplementation and Continue reading
Fitness Over 50 Starts With Core Strength
Forget big biceps, even forget trying to get a ‘six-pack”, if you’re over 50 and are seeking true strength, it all starts with your core.
Men over 50 must have a strong core
Too many men over 50 view fitness in the wrong light. Sure, a muscled and toned body looks great on the beach, and for sure that’s something motivating to set goals on. However, for achieving fitness from a functional strength standpoint, nothing exceeds core strength in importance.
What is the core? May mistakenly think of the core as just the front abdominals. In fact, the core is quite expansive, including many muscles and muscle groups. Basically, think of your core as all muscles from roughly the bottom of your rib cage down to about halfway down your hips, surrounding the full 360 degrees of your mid-section.
Core strength is important for several reasons.
First, your core provides the base of all physical movement. I love the tree analogy; what’s the strongest part of a tree, the limbs or the trunk? What would happen to the tree if its limbs were thick, heavy and strong, but its trunk was spindly and weak?
Think of people with back problems and you get the right idea. But, more importantly, all functional movement is initiated by and supported by the core. The stronger your core, the stronger your functional movements.
Second, a strong core protects your spine, including the Continue reading
Keith Mohr: Starting A Fitness Transformation at Age 50
When Keith Mohr recently turned 50, he looked in the mirror, hated what he saw, and decided to change. Keith shares his post-50 fitness journey with bestMastersFitness.com.
Q: Tell us about the physical activities you stay involved in.
Keith Mohr lost 40 lbs of body fat and gained 20 lbs of muscle after turning 50
A: Right now, I am concentrating on gaining strength and continuing to shed fat through a combination of burst cardio and resistance training. My goal is to pitch in a senior league baseball game this spring. I pitched in high school and college, and high on my bucket list is striking someone out in a real game! Glory Days! I just have to get that feeling one more time before I depart this planet!
Q: Why the interest in this area?
A: I turned 50 on April 25 and was overweight (220 at 5’10”), tired, and lethargic. I realized if I did not turn it around, I’ll probably have a heart attack and kick the bucket. You see, heart disease runs in my family. My grandfather died of sudden cardiac arrest at 72. My dad had quadruple bypass surgery at age 66 saving his life. He’s now 78 and still kicking (that’s a miracle in itself!)
I had never exercised, and never lifted weights, even when I was active as a teenager and young adult. After I gave up playing baseball in my early 20’s, I played keyboards in a rock band, drank too much and did drugs. After that, I became a Continue reading
Ten Habits for Masters Fitness
Established masters athlete and author Bill Pritchett shares his philosophies on healthy living for men over 50 with these important 10 habits.
By: Bill Pritchett
There’s an old Hindu proverb that says, “For the first thirty years of your life, you make your habits For the last thirty years of your life, your habits make you.” While I don’t like the
Over 50 athlete Bill Pritchett practices what he preaches
implication that our lifespan is limited to sixty years, I completely agree with the idea behind this saying. We truly are the product of our habits, whether they’re healthy ones or not, and for masters athletes, the second half our life can be dictated by the habits we formed earlier. When I read this proverb, it made me think of some of the healthy habits I have tried to develop over roughly the past twenty-five years, as I’ve sought to live a healthy lifestyle:
Habit #1: Drink a lot of water. Then drink some more. About 57% of your body is water, so you obviously need a lot of it to be healthy. Be sure to drink a glass every morning immediately after you wake up. You wouldn’t go 7 or 8 hours during the day without drinking water, would you? When you wake up, you’ve gone that long without it, so be sure to drink water before you have coffee, tea, or juice. During the day, keep a glass on your desk or wherever you work so that you can stay hydrated throughout the day. To know how much to drink after exercising, weigh yourself unclothed before and after Continue reading
Living With Purpose After Age 50
Health and fitness goals for men over 50 come from first establishing meaningful life goals
Health and Fitness goals become easier for men over 50 with a solid life goal.
Like many men over 50, you may be looking to get into better shape. You know, “lose weight, get toned, add muscle”, that kind of stuff.
But let’s be honest, how serious about all of this are you, really. Like many people, chances are high that you’ll have good intentions, maybe get to the gym for a few weeks or for a few months, make an awkward attempt at modifying your diet, and then drop the whole effort.
Why does this happen?
Usually it’s from lack of motivation. And one key motivational element is a burning passion to achieve some desired future state.
So what do you burn for?
Before starting down the health and fitness path, most men would benefit greatly from stepping back and looking at Continue reading
Men Over 50: Make 2013 Your Year For Fitness
Only one in ten men over 50 will stick with their 2013 fitness goals. At bestMastersFitness.com, we’re your allies for success.
men over 50 can get into the best shape of their lives
Another year, another resolution to lose weight and to get into shape. Like many men over 50, you may be contemplating getting into the gym and changing up your diet. And you’re likely to fail and give up within 30 days.
Your problem isn’t lack of desire, it’s lack of skills.
In addition to desire, you also need to know what to do and how to do it. Without this knowledge you’ll end up like a boat drifting without a rudder, and you will become frustrated when you realize you don’t know where you’re going, much less how to get there.
At bestMastersFitness.com, we’re here to change that for you. bestMastersFitness.com provides you with all of the information you need to:
1) Set meaningful, achievable goals
2) Create workouts to get you in the best shape possible
3) Change your diet so you’re eating the right things in the right amounts at the right times
4) Stay motivated so that you not only hit your goals, but you also transform your life forever
Too many men believe the cultural stigma that after age 50 they’re “over the hill”. Don’t buy into it because it’s total crap.
In fact, not only can you get into great shape, it’s entirely possible to be in the best shape of your life – after age 50!
Here are just a few ways bestMastersFitness.com can help you get started on your way to perfect health in 2013:
1) Search our information base to access hundreds of articles, videos, and podcasts, all specifically created for men over 50.
2) Get our free, 7-part report on the basics behind how men over 50 can get in the best shape of their lives.
3) Get our all-inclusive book, BestFit50, with absolutely everything you need to know about getting into the very best shape of your life after age 50.
The choice is yours, you can either struggle blindly through another failed attempt at losing weight getting in shape, or you can create a plan and gain all of the tools you need to achieve incredible fitness levels that will amaze you and everyone around you.
At bestMastersFitness.com, we’ll be here for you to help you lead a healthier, happier life!
Core Fitness for Men over 50
If you’re over 50 years old, you absolutely must have a strong core, here’s why.
Most people have heard about the importance of “core strength”. But notions of a fitness routine bring thoughts of upper body strength, including adding muscle to the chest, upper back, biceps and triceps. While targeting upper body strength and size seems like traditional gym work and agreeably has the highest sex appeal, but for men over 50, your core is absolutely the most important body part to develop.
What is the core?
Core muscles make up the 360-degree area wrapping around your entire torso and hip regions. In the front, the core muscles begin just below your chest and run down to your pelvis. In the
Men over 50 must have core strength
back, the core muscles begin about mid-back and run down to your upper legs.
Many people incorrectly think of the core as just “abs” associated with the famed “six pack” look. While the main abdominals to compose an important part of the core group, thoughts of core strength must be expanded to include the entire torso region.
Additionally, many don’t realize that hips are indeed part of the core, and that abdominal and back muscles reach down to the hips, while hip muscles (including the gluteals, or “butt” muscles) reach up into the torso, with the two groups Continue reading
