Press – Age Proof Your Body with Christina Howells

Oct 17

MAKE MENOPAUSE THE TIME TO AGE PROOF YOUR BODY. G

MAKE MENOPAUSE THE TIME TO AGE PROOF YOUR BODY.

Getting older is inevitable, but the nature of ageing is to a large extent under one’s control and choice. What would happen if we choose to challenge the idea that with age there’s a decline, making changes becomes too hard, or our efforts won’t yield results? Instead, what if we go with the idea that being fit and healthy to be able to do all the things we want to do, is possible and has less to do with our actual age and more to do with our lifestyle choices, mindset and having some self-belief?

When we start to prioritise our wellbeing, health, spirituality, and relationships, we may begin to maximise lifespan – the period of life during which we are generally healthy and free from disease.
Understandably, when it comes to menopause, we may go through denial, anger, feelings of despair and that’s quite natural, but once we accept this new phase, there is a choice and a need for us to take responsibility for our health.
Menopause is not a disease, it’s a natural transition in a woman’s life BUT declining fitness and health are not. It’s time to flip the script, address what needs to be done, make a plan, and positively define the next chapter.
The lifestyle choices we make, the behaviours we choose , the people we surround ourselves with, social support and maintaining a positive mind all in my opinion help “Age proof your body.” In other words we may grow older but we can prevent or delay disease even on a moderate to low budget.
Please do let me know your views as everyone’s view helps others :) this post can be found on the link @positivepauseuk page and discuses everything from heart disease to people need people .
#ageproofyourbody #positivepause #menopausehealth #midlifewomen #midlifefitness #fitoverfifty #menopausematters #womensupportingwomen #hearthealth #heartdiseaseawareness #osteoporosis

Oct 6

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY Unhealthy lifestyle choices a

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
Unhealthy lifestyle choices and the disorders they can cause sadly pervade. We are tipping the scales with a greater risk of dying from being overfed than underfed in a world where everything is so accessible from a chair!

Medicine has an array of protocols to treat or manage our symptoms. These may prolong life although for many of us life, of prescriptions and hospital visits can be avoided, if we focused on preventive medicine rather than the “what can I take for that approach “
What if we could be prescribed a prescription that was backed by research time and time again for its effectiveness in helping to prevent or treat heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, depression, dementia and reduce the risk of certain cancers?
What if this prescription came with none of the typical lists of side effects that are likely to reduce one's quality of daily life? In fact, what if the only side effects enhanced our daily life, by improving mood, sleep, energy, fitness, strength, mobility and weight management.
Physical activity is one of the best forms of preventative medicine, and it does not need to involve a gym! Recently, a close friend of mine quit driving too and from work to either walk or cycle clocking a consistent 8 miles a day. Ditching the car took away the stress of driving and parking and now his morning commute is a pleasure. There are no booking classes or how to fit a workout in his day. He is saving money whilst getting fitter and feeling emotionally happier. Furthermore, he’s encouraged his colleagues to either park their cars further from the office or doing the whole journey similar to him. Being over 50 it’s he is taking responsibility for his own health.
#midlifefitness #ageproofyourbody #cycletowork #walkforhealth #selfcare #menopauseweightloss #fitat50 #healthylifestyle #hearthealthfitness #hearthealth #bemoreactive

Sep 23

Menopause and heart disease ! Did you know Heart

Menopause and heart disease !
Did you know Heart disease is the biggest killer of women in the UK and worldwide ! In particular women post menopause or younger women whom go through surgical induced menopause are at greater risk.
Menopause, however does not cause heart disease . It is generally believed declines in estrogen alter several factors in a woman’s physiology.

Lipid profiles change with increases in LDL cholesterol “bad’’ cholesterol and there is a raise in triglycerides (a form of fat) in the blood stream.
Simultaneously, age related increase in blood pressure frequently occur. Estrogen is also believed to play a role in keeping the inner layer of our artery walls more flexible accommodating blood flow.
Couple this with age related changes that often occur during midlife including muscle loss, changes in fat distribution towards the middle (also related to decline in oestrogen ) and a decrease in activity and the risk of heart disease increases further.

Inactivity, In my opinion is an unseen epidemic that is harmful to our long term physical and mental wellness in particular our risk of heart disease. The heart is a muscle and like any other muscle responds well to being worked. The benefits of being active also can significantly reduce other risk factors such as being overweight, hypertension, high cholesterol and high blood sugar.
Unlike cancer it is estimated 80% of heart disease can be prevented through changes to lifestyles. Yet it is still the no 1 killer of women!
m bottom line: Menopause might be a natural stage in a woman's life, but heart disease doesn't have to be.
#ageproofyourbody #heartdiseaseawareness #menopauseweightloss #midlifewomen #midlifefitness #midlifehealth

Sep 13

BONE HEALTH Let’s talk about pre midlife. When

BONE HEALTH
Let’s talk about pre midlife.
When we are young our bodies create new bone more rapidly than they remove old bone with as much as 90% of peak bone mass being reached before we reach 20. The bone building process then starts to slows down but still outpaces bone reabsorption with most of us reaching peak bone mass by age 30.
Bone remodeling is a lifelong process where mature bone tissue is removed from the skeleton and new bone tissue is formed. The processes also replaces or reshapes bone after injuries or micro damage.
Our body needs to maintain a constant balance between bone production and breakdown. As with most things health related the way we lead our lives can have a huge Impact on this process and our risk of osteoporosis in later life.
Key factors to consider .
⭐️Young women whose menstrual periods stop due to extremely low body weight or excessive exercise, may lose significant amounts of bone density during critical years. This is in part due to oestrogen deficiency which alongside the synergistic effect of malnutrition can decrease bone formation and increase bone reabsorption .
⭐️Calcium, is the main ingredient of bone with deficiency in young people accounting for significant variances in peak bone mass. Calcium also plays many other important roles in our bodies , so much so that when blood levels drop below a certain threshold, the body raids the bones to compensate. .
⭐️Vitamin D plays a vital role in the enhancing calcium absorption from our food and maintaining blood levels which of course then limits calcium withdrawals from our bones ⭐️Smoking slows down the bone remodelling process. Smoking also increases the risk of early menopause and post menopause osteoporosis in women .
⭐️Sedentary lifestyle .
Bone is living tissue which reacts to increased loads and forces, in other words bones thrive on movement too. When our muscle move they pull on our bones so the more “load ” the muscle move the more this will impact our bone density and reduce bone loss. The best activities for your bones are weight-bearing and resistance exercises.
Image @ninashawphotography #ageproofyourbody

Aug 31

PEOPLE NEED PEOPLE When we think about maintain

PEOPLE NEED PEOPLE
When we think about maintaining our physical health, we usually think about being more active, stress management strategies for improving our nutrition.
Did you know that one of the most fundamental components of our health has little to do with taking any of the above physical actions and a lot more to do with our connections with others.
Social support and social interaction are often cited as the most important factors in predicting our physical and mental health. The Harvard Women’s Health Watch recently reported people who have satisfying relationships with family, friends and their community are happier, have fewer health problems, and live longer.
Conversely, a relative lack of social ties is associated with depression and later-life cognitive decline, as well as with increased mortality .
In addition, the life-enhancing effects of social support extend to the giver as well as the receiver. As a trainer I can do identify with this as helping others is the most certainly the key to my happiness and motivation. Add amazing friends to this and I’m doing ok - take them away and I’m not sure 🤔
As a 50 plus woman I also encourage social relationships extend across all decades. Keeping the doors closed to others we feel we have nothing in common with dampens are learning and experiences. Rather than stereotype age groups let’s open the doors to conversations with people of all ages, celebrating the difference and enjoying viewing and experiencing the world through everyone’s eyes .
#ageproofyourbody #ageisjustanumber #womenover50fitness #positivepause #fiftyplusandfabulous #socialsupportsaturdays #mentalhealthawareness #peopleneedpeople #friendships #communication #communityovercompetition

Aug 27

50 is the new chapter - the ageless woman just has

50 is the new chapter - the ageless woman just has to write it 💃

Throughout life we are continually writing and rewriting our story in accordance to where are paths take us and which doors of new opportunities we open. Each decade, if we choose too can offer us a new more significant chapter to be written as we move into the next 10 year period.
I read a lot about ageing and being over 50 and sadly this is not always so positive indicating a loss of direction and purpose and a feeling of being invisible. “It’s too late for me to change my diet” , “exercise won’t help now”, “I’m too old to change my lifestyle now “ these to me are all old fashioned motto”s of midlife. However, thinking this way closes doors to the imagination and possibilities and stifles motivation.

Its up to us to write the new version of 50 not deterred by limits set by “norms” that say it’s time to slow down and dictate what we should wear or how we should look and behave. It’s also not about dwelling on our youth encouraged by society with endless “anti -ageing “ products and strategies. Rather, I feel it’s about letting go of our past decades and embracing our maturity and the joy of midlife which can bring us a much better sense of our authentic self and a greater awareness of what really matters to us .It’s about adapting and not being afraid to be “you” and do what “you want”. 🌟 The ageless woman just has to write her decade 🌟
#ageproofyourbody #fitat50 #ageisjustanumber #midlifewomen #midlifefitness #positivepause #womensempowerment #fiftyplusandfabulous #agelesswomen #menopauseweightloss #menopausefitness #midlifehealth #menopausematters #menopausesupport

Aug 22

Have you nominated for the The Pure Package Welln

Have you nominated for the
The Pure Package Wellness Awards ?
The amazing @jenniferjirvine founded the awards in 2016 with a mission to honour and celebrate the stars of the British health and wellness industry.
This is your opportunity to tell us about a person, business or organisation that impresses you for there services and excellence to health and wellness. Maybe someone whom has personally inspired you ? Or a healthy eatery you feel everyone should know about? Maybe it’s an organisation that provides life enhancing wellness related retreats ? There are several categories you can nominate in and you can nominate yourself too 👍
I am super excited to see we are also judging podcasts this year. As you may know I walk like a lot so hopefully I will have some really exciting podcasts to judge as I cover about 60 miles a week ! 🏃‍♀️ 🎧
How to nominate : go too <https://www.purepackage.com/awards/nominate/> this link to nominate now.https://www.purepackage.com/awards/nominate/
Excited to be back on the judges panel again with some like minded friends @ian_marber @wellness_ed @teamdanroberts @harryjamesonpt @thestrengthtemple @welltodoglobal and many more :). #purepackage #wellnessawards

Aug 10

How long should I plank ? The function of the cor

How long should I plank ?
The function of the core goes way beyond how long you can hold a plank. In fact, long holds are not really necessary, the core is not meant to switch on for extended periods of time - when does life ever require you to engage your core for record breaking time ?
What does my core do ?
Your core plays significant role in your daily life including breathing , postural alignment and continence alongside stabilising your body in response to your actions and reactions and allowing the transfer of energy between your lower and upper body .
When we train the core we need to incorporate exercises into our workout that naturally challenge the trunk to stabilise to resist movement. This will involve anti-flexion, anti-extension, and anti-rotation exercises
The plank is an anti extension exercise in which the focus is to avoid arching the spine and preventing the ribs from flaring . 🤔To get the most out of your planks the key is create full body tension by co - contracting muscles of the lower and upper body muscular and not just your abdominals. 🤔How do I plank
Come into full plank position, elbows directly under your shoulders. Hands clasped together . From here actively depress your shoulders (pulling down motion) and think of pulling your elbows and forearms together creating tension without movement.
Now turn your focus to co contracting the muscles of the lower body by pulling up the front of your thighs straightening your knees whilst squeezing the inner thighs muscles towards each other . Tense your glutes strongly and pull your lower belly in.

Finally, focus on pulling your elbows towards your toes and your toes towards your elbows keeping your glutes engaged. You will feel an increase in abdominal engagement.
Time
Take 10 strong forced exhales maintaining this postures . Rest and repeat 3-4 more rounds. You can increase the breaths but remember it’s more important to maintain the tension and form than time.
Note
In this image i have placed yoga blocks between @ukglowology knees /feet to help focus on engaging her lower limbs.
#ageproofyourbody #midlifefitness #qualityoverquantity #50andfit

Aug 3

Developing an exercise habit If you repeat a heal

Developing an exercise habit
If you repeat a healthy behavior often enough, you can turn that behavior into a habit that becomes part of your lifestyle.
If this sounds difficult to do, then consider how easy it is to develop an unhealthy habit that soon becomes a daily routine.
When it comes to exercise the best place to start is to find your motivation, the reason why you want to include exercise in your life.lThe answer is what will drive your new behaviour.
Once you have established your why you need to create a plan - without a plan there is no direction and without direction your motivation is likely to be lost. The key questions you need to ask yourself are:

When will you exercise ?
Where will you exercise ?
How will you exercise ?
i.e do you need equipment? a no fuss exercise programme you can do anywhere, book a class, set your alarm earlier to walk to locations or a rucksack so you can complete your errands on foot and so on ..... Once a plan is established then schedule exercise/movement into your day like you would a work meeting, dinner date or school parents evening. Planning and writing it in the diary as a commitment helps make it a sustainable behaviour.
Preparation
Preparation is essentially especially If your time poor. A little organisation such as putting your trainers /gym bag ready by the door or booking your class/ trainer in advance will limit unnecessary obstacles.
Create a Ritual
If you can schedule your exercise the same days and times each day then your creating a ritual that becomes part of your routine . Or at the start of each week make it your ritual to schedule in your exercise habit into your week . So if you do to Pilates 2 times a week and walk home 3 times a week then that’s your ritual .
Be prepared for hip-cups
Even the best laid out plans can go wrong due to unavoidable circumstance. Rather than the all or nothing approach remember any amount of movement is better than none. If you’re taking the stairs, walking escalators, walking more you will be doing yourself a huge favour in terms of both cardiovascular health and muscular endurance.
#ageproofyourbody #midlifefitness

Age Proof Your Body™

Please feel free to contact Christina with any questions or for details of her personal training services and she will personally respond to you within 48 hrs .

[email protected]Tel: 07968 824166