Over 40 Fitness Guide

Can You Be Too Old To Build Muscle?

Scott — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:49:46 +0000

Only 10-15 percent of elderly people perform structured strength training. What’s happening with the remaining 85-90 percent?

Are they too old to lift weights and hence build muscle?

Of this remaining percentage, a significant number still has mobility, and that includes those who use scooters but still can fully use their upper body.

Why Aren’t These Older Individuals Strength Training?

Even a person who uses a scooter can do dumbbell exercises. Many older people believe that it’s not possible to build muscle after a certain age. This assumption can have very costly consequences.

More and more studies are showing that “old people” indeed can build lean muscle mass with a strength training program, whether the resistance exercises are in the form of dumbbells, kettlebells, weight stack machines, tension bands or bodyweight movements like squats and wall presses.

Like the old saying goes, “The only people who can’t benefit from exercise are dead.”

Even a bedridden person, who has use of the arms, can gain some muscle (e.g., pressing light dumbbells above the chest, or pulling tension bands downward from an anchor point above the bed).

If older people with limitations (e.g., scooter) are capable of lifting weights, what about all the people of retirement age who golf, bowl and go for extended walks sightseeing? What’s keeping them from conducting weight workouts?

Not only is one never too old to build muscle, but there really is no excuse for why people over 60, and especially people over 40, should not strength train.

One particular study report appeared in the June 2011 Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.

Frank Mayer et al, from the University of Potsdam, literally showed that grandpa and grandma can gain muscle with resistance exercise.

The researchers found that in subjects over age 60, consistent resistance training resulted in improved muscle strength, decreased muscle shrinkage, and stronger bones and tendons. These improvements lead to a reduced risk of falling.

The study also showed that intensity makes a difference. Older people should not limit themselves to tiny dumbbells or the lowest weight amount on a machine simply because they’re over a certain age. The more intense the workout, the greater the results.

According to the study, an increase in muscle mass results when the intensity is 60-85 percent of the amount of maximal weight that a person can lift just one time.

So if a senior citizen can press a 50 pound barbell just once, then a weight load of 30-40 pounds (for repetitions) would be required to build muscle.

Often, people insist, “I’m too old to lift weights.” However, the opposite is what should be minded: You are too old not to lift weights.

Photos of “old-timers” who are strength building enthusiasts are spectacular. No, these aren’t images of men who are freakishly built up with stiff-looking muscle, or grannies who have chests and shoulders like their sons.

These are individuals whose bodies look 20 or 30 years younger than their chronological age. It’s not just about vanity, of course.

Older people who work out with weights simply don’t get sick as often as their sedentary counterparts; they don’t suffer the same degree of injuries, aches or pains; the rate of high blood pressure and brittle bone disease is markedly lower as well.

The body has the amazing ability to adapt to an unfamiliar work load. If this work load is repeated, the body will get stronger and more efficient, no matter what age.

Exercises For Building Muscle Need Not Be Fancy, Complicated Or Require Balance

Sticking with the classic basics is all that’s necessary, even though today’s personal trainers often have their older clients struggling to perform strange balancing moves.

▸ One form of strength training is simply standing up and down repeatedly from a chair: chair squats. The resistance is one’s bodyweight. At the gym, one can do horizontal leg presses, plus leg extensions and hamstring curls.

▸ Healthier older people can do dumbbell squats and work their way up to Smith machine squats.

▸ The effectiveness of isolation exercises for older people who wish to gain muscle pale in comparison to that of compound exercises.

Isolation exercises work only one muscle group at a time, and compounds work several muscle groups at a time. A person over 50 or 60 will benefit so much more from doing seated rows rather than standing around curling dumbbells.

▸ There is no practical reason for the older trainee to do triceps kickbacks, even though this is a common sight at gyms, especially among women.

The kickback is primarily done by older women to tighten and firm up the back of the upper arm. While only the back of the upper arm is getting worked, nothing else happens with any other part of the body; a waste of time for a minimal result.

The triceps area can be worked quite efficiently and more comprehensively, while other body parts get worked, if one performs the compound exercise of chest pressing.

This will work not only the back of the upper arm, but the shoulders and chest, thus burning much more fat and going a lot further as far as increasing lean muscle tissue.

▸ The older trainee needs to make sure that some of the routines are done while standing. Standing while maneuvering against resistance will dramatically improve stability, mobility and reduce the risk of falls.

So for instance, a standing barbell or dumbbell row can replace a seated row, and a standing lat pull-down can replace a seated one.

Shoulder presses with barbells or dumbbells can be done standing rather than seated. In reality, if one ever needs to hoist a load overhead, he or she will very likely be standing while doing this.

▸ Another great exercise for the older person, including very sedentary ones, is that of walking around while holding weights straight at their side: farmer walks. This will strengthen the entire body.

As the aging population explodes, more and more older people are realizing just how critical it is to hold onto muscle mass, and just how possible it is to build muscle in middle age and beyond.

To read about real life people in middle and retirement age who have dramatically transformed their bodies with strength training and other forms of exercise, check out “Fit Over 40 program.”

“Fit Over 40 program” also explains how anyone of any fitness level, even those with disease, can get started on a health-promoting program that will bring back life to one’s years.

Weight Training For Women Over 40: What Are The Best Bone Building And Fat Burning Exercises?

Scott — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:32:39 +0000

There are two ways to interpret “weight training for women over 40.”

The first way applies to women over 40 who began strength training many years prior to hitting age 40.

This group of women, when passionate about their fitness, usually knows all there is to know about the power and age-defying effects of working out with weights.

The second interpretation applies to women 40-plus who have either never before done any strength training, or, perhaps they’ve indeed been doing it since age 25, but non-fruitfully (e.g., minimally effective exercises, not enough resistance, improper form).

This second group almost always experiences minimal results as far as keeping a lean figure, and when workouts are non-fruitful, the bone building effects are marginal.

Here’s The Ironic Thing About Weight Lifting For Women Over 40

Many of those in this age group, who have never performed exercises with dumbbells, barbells or resistance machines, continue to believe that this type of exercise is more suitable for men – even though it is women, not men, who are at higher risk for brittle bone disease as they get older!

Lack of weight bearing exercise is one of the risk factors for brittle bone disease (osteoporosis).

A postmenopausal woman, quite literally, desperately needs to engage in a weight lifting program.

A heavy-set woman may have read that being “thin” is a risk factor for brittle bones later in life, and thus may decide to embrace her heavy frame.

However, there is a difference between being thin and under-muscled, and being lean with shapely, firm muscles.

A thin woman with low muscle mass and a lean woman with developed muscle mass may both be able to fit into the same size 8 outfit. The difference is body composition and physical appearance.

The first woman will appear to be “skinny fat,” complete with a soft, flabby physique that shows age; while the second woman will be tight all over and still rock a bikini at age 50.

Vanity aside, the second woman is far less likely to suffer a bone fracture during her retirement years than is the first woman.

Aside from being stellar at building strong bones, weight lifting is the most spectacular way to burn body fat. Like most things in life, in order for something to work, it must be done correctly.

The reason so many women who do strength train yet maintain a lot of excess body fat is because of

not lifting heavy enough
doing the wrong exercises and
poor diet-though this isn’t necessarily always the case.

To build strong bone and slash body fat, a woman must embrace muscle building, and knock the idea out of her head that this is something only for men.

The top 8 weight training exercises for bone building are also the top exercises for kicking fat to the curb. Here they are:

Deadlift
Squat
Leg Press
Chin-Up
Lat Pull-Down
Lying Chest Press
Shoulder Press
Weighted Walking Lunge

This list may seem to have a few things missing. Where are the dumbbell kickbacks? Where are the inner/outer thigh exercises? Where are the biceps curls? And where on earth are the abdominal exercises?

The eight exercises all have one thing in common: They work several muscle groups at the same time; they are multi-joint, also known as “compound.”

Though none of these exercises have “triceps,” “biceps” or “abs” in their names, these small muscle groups get included in the recruitment!

For example, chest and shoulder presses work the triceps, and deadlifts, lat pull-downs and chin-ups work the biceps. And guess what: Squats, walking lunges and chin-ups work the abs!

There are more compound movements (such as bench dips and bent-over dumbbell rows), but these eight are a good start for women 40-plus who want to take their strength training to a new level, or begin a serious weight lifting regimen—“serious” as in promoting unprecedented fitness and fat burning.

Mechanism Behind What Makes Bones Get Stronger

Because more weight can be moved with compound routines (i.e., a woman can bench press more weight than she can triceps press with the rope on a pulley machine), this means more stress on the bones, plus more bones involved at the same time.

Stress on the bones forces them to get stronger.

When one pushes or pulls against resistance, the muscles tug at the bones. It is not the other way around.

This tugging or pulling at the bones stimulates them to increase in density, in “anticipation” of the next weight bearing session.

A lot more bone tugging happens during a lat pull-down (or seated row—another excellent compound move that’s similar to the pull-down), than during an arm curl that isolates just one muscle group, the biceps.

In summary, bones become stronger when stress (weight bearing) is placed upon them.

How Do You Maximize The Stress On The Bone?

In addition to performing compound exercises, one can optimize the stress by lifting moderate to heavy weight loads.

If you can do any of the eight exercises for more than 12-15 repetitions, despite having base conditioning, then you are not lifting heavy enough.

For maximal fat burning, rest 60-75 seconds in between sets. This will most likely necessitate reducing the weight load for subsequent sets.

Why Do These Particular Exercises Burn So Much Fat?

Compound movements, in combination with an 8-15 repetition max-out, plus the 60-75 second rest in between sets, is the perfect magnificent storm for maximizing your body’s fat burning system.

The max-out should top off at 12 reps for maximum fat burning.

However, for women over 40 who are in poor shape, a max of 15 reps may be more sensible, as this does not require as heavy a weight (i.e., to reach 15 reps, the weight can be lighter than what would be required to reach “muscle failure” by rep #12).

When these three factors are in place—compound movements, an 8-15 rep max, and the relatively short rest in between sets—something very amazing happens in the body.

This amazing chemical reaction does not occur with light weights!

“Light” is a relative term, of course. So look at it this way: If you can perform an exercise more than 12-15 times, the weight is too light.

The amazing chemical reaction also occurs with longer rest periods, but not as pronounced.

It also happens with non-compound moves but only when they are done with the absolute heaviest amount of weight for about 8-12 reps, but it still pales in comparison to the extent that it occurs with moderate to heavy compound lifting.

This chemical reaction is called EPOC: Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. It involves a significantly increased secretion of human growth hormone and testosterone (yes, women do produce testosterone).

These hormones are nature’s most powerful fat burners. With elevated levels of these fat-busting hormones, the body will burn up fat like never before.

The body is in such a state of oxygen debt following intense compound lifting, that the stored fat supply in your belly and waist will be used for recuperation fuel, even if your training session involved other body parts!

This means that an upper body compound workout will burn fat in the inner thighs!

Weight Training Over 40 Protocol For Beginners

Every beginner can perform all the eight exercises, though for some individuals, modifications will be necessary.

Start out with light resistance to get the tendons and other connective tissue used to the exercise, even if you think you’re “naturally strong” or “big boned.”

Muscles have a tendency to get stronger at a faster rate than do tendons, and getting ahead of yourself can result in tendon injury.

Get your body used to a high rep, light weight regimen (this will take several weeks) before you move on to a “rep max” approach, which means that the weight load makes it impossible to exceed a certain number of reps, yet possible to perform a minimum number of reps.

A 12-15 rep max (RM) means you can do 12 reps, but it’s impossible to do 16. The ideal rep range for optimal bone strengthening and fat burning is 8-12.

1. Deadlift

Can be done with a barbell, a dumbbell in each hand, or one dumbbell/kettlebell in both hands.

Practice first with a 20 lb. barbell to master the form, which is crucial.

2. Squat

Can be done with a barbell, a dumbbell in each hand, or one dumbbell/kettlebell in both hands.

More challenged women can do bodyweight-only squats. Proper form is critical.

3. Leg Press

This is done on a leg press machine. Legs should bend to at least 90 degrees.

4. Chin-Up

One can use an assist machine or a stool.

5. Lat Pull-Down

Various machines offer this movement. Keep forearms vertical at all times and pull bar only down to neck.

6. Lying Chest Press

This can mean a bench press or dumbbell press, on a flat or slightly inclined bench, or stability ball.

7. Shoulder Press

Can be done with a barbell, dumbbells or machines.

8. Weighted Walking Lunge

Can be done holding a dumbbell in each hand, or one dumbbell/kettlebell/weight plate in both hands at chest.

Bodyweight-only is a good start for those not used to this movement.

Weight Training Over 40 Protocol For Experienced

The goal is to get acquainted with these eight exercises, get your body tuned into them, and then go for it. Even with weight training for women over 50, the guidelines are the same.

Regardless of age, all woman need to master excellent form, not get ahead of themselves, and acquire base joint conditioning first, before using resistance heavy enough for the 8-15 RM.

There is really so much more to know about the wonderful world of lifting weights for women, especially for those over 40, which is why you’ll enjoy reading “Fit Over 40 program.”

This is a must-read for women who are ready to redefine themselves with stronger bones and a fitter, leaner and more energetic body.

“Fit Over 40 program” includes real life profiles of mature women who have achieved extraordinary levels of fitness.

How To Erase The Fear Of Cancer If You’re Over 40

Scott — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:14:53 +0000

The fear of cancer is not often found in people until they hit the age of 40.

Then, every year, it seems to worsen as friends are diagnosed with cancer or start dropping dead of other diseases.

There’s nothing like watching someone go through the dying process that makes us consider our own mortality.

And that’s not all. If someone has suffered from a bout of cancer, then there’s the fear of cancer recurrence. And cancer and depression go hand in hand.

Don’t Waste Time With Positive Thinking: It Won’t Be Enough

Isn’t it time for you to overcome the fear of cancer? It can’t be done by programming yourself with positive words. Instead you have to do it by taking positive actions.

What are some of the positive actions you need to take to overcome cancer phobia or carcinophobia?

Carcinophobia is the fear that something you eat, breathe, or drink is going to cause cancer because it contains carcinogens.

Below is a list of 5 suggestions that will help you in many ways to erase the fear of cancer.

How To Overcome The Fear Of Cancer

1. Always Consider Your Environment

This suggestion is one of the most important. Before moving to a new home, you must check out the history of the area.

Has it been affected by a flood at any time? If so, the chance is good that your home can be affected with toxic mold any time there is water damage.

The worst part of this is that toxic mold destroys the immune system and is associated with cancer.

So don’t walk into a potentially carcinogenic situation. Being cautious doesn’t make you carcinophobic; it keeps you safe.

Don’t move to an area that has been within 8 miles of a Superfund toxic dump site, no matter how cheap it is to live there. Money means nothing to you if you are on your death bed.

Do your research as many of the military bases have been declared a Superfund site or are highly contaminated. Again, don’t walk into a potentially carcinogenic situation.

Interview potential neighbors. Did anyone in the neighborhood have cancer? If the neighborhood is contaminated, several people will have been diagnosed with cancer.

2. Set Up Regular Detox Programs For Yourself

The body needs to be detoxified regularly since we are living in a world that is 100 times more toxic than in our grandparents’ time. That toxicity level was reported by the Centers for Disease Control.

Detoxification removes the potentially carcinogenic compounds in the body and leaves us with a clean body on the inside.

When you detox your colon, liver, kidneys and blood, you feel cleaner.

And when you feel cleaner, something else happens – you don’t have thoughts about cancer – or fear of cancer or fear of cancer recurrence.

Thoughts about cancer rarely happen in someone who doesn’t have cancer.

Now you could have a fear of cancer so badly that these thoughts arise, but you’ll be surprised about how detoxification using herbs for cleansing the internal organs for six weeks each goes far to remove these thoughts.

Is detox all just hocus pocus? Maybe the body gives us little clues that cancer is starting with a random thought here and there.

So do cleanse the body regularly and you’ll not only feel your health soar, but also eliminate thoughts about the fear of cancer.

3. Take Your Dietary Supplements

It’s a known fact that dietary deficiencies of vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, Vitamin D and other important nutrients for your health will cause cancer.

Every cancer patient should have a complete blood and hair analysis of their nutrient levels, yet this is rarely done.

If you have a fear of cancer recurrence, restore all your nutrient levels and watch the magic return to your health and how you feel.

Take your dietary supplements and don’t miss a day. For many people, it is that easy.

4. Juice, Drink Smoothies And Eat Plenty Of Vegetables

Juicing and smoothies and eating plenty of vegetables are the #1 health habit that is associated with preventing cancer.

Are you doing enough of these habits? If not, get on it.

Juicing provides plenty of enzymes that your body needs to take care of some health problems that lead to cancer.

Smoothies provide plenty of fiber that keeps your colon free of cancer.

And eating plenty of vegetables provides you with much needed vitamins, minerals, and fiber as well as enzymes. You can’t do without it, so get on it!

Getting Enough Sleep When You’re Over 40 Is A Lot Easier Than You Think

Scott — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 02:39:10 +0000

How many people are not getting enough sleep in the world or nation is not important to you if you suffer from sleep deprivation and are over 40.

All you care about is how to sleep better and what happens when you don’t get enough sleep.

And rightfully so. Your body is crying out for restoration and rejuvenation and it’s programmed to get it on a daily basis.

When sleep is lacking, then all your attention is diverted towards getting sleep – and getting it soon.

When you don’t get enough sleep, your body sends out a message from the adrenal glands that you are overstressed. This affects your other organs as well.

For example, below is a list of other effects in the body that will also happen when you are not getting enough sleep.

10 Effects Of Sleep Deprivation

The science of sleep deprivation is already an established science. There are hundreds of studies that have given us plenty of good solid information about why we want to get a good night’s sleep.

This science applies to those under 40 and those over 40.

1. Your body shifts its nervous system regulation to fight-or-flight survival. This makes it impossible for your cells to synthesize new proteins needed for every organ.

2. With the body in fight-or-flight for extended periods of time, you’ll have more inflammation in the body.

This leads to an increase in symptoms from unhealed wounds or injuries, or from disease that has a major component of inflammation in its pathology.

Increased inflammation means more pain.

3. Depressed immunity, which leads to more infections.

4. Blurry vision

5. Depression

6. High blood pressure

7. Greater risk of heart disease

8. Increased hostility

9. Fatigue that can lead to car accidents

10. Weight gain

How To Sleep Better: Tips You Can Use Now

As you can see, if you’re suffering from sleep deprivation, it’s imperative that you find a solution pretty quickly. Below is a list of some of my favorite tips.

1.Find The Cause

Discover what is at the root of your sleep deprivation. Is it worry? Is it bad sleep habits such as taking naps during the day? Is it intellectual stimulation before you go to bed? Is it pain?

Each one of these will have a completely different solution.

2. Exercise Matters

Are you getting enough exercise? Exercise tires you out so that you have to go to bed. But don’t exercise after work unless you absolutely have to – this can stimulate the body’s metabolism and keep you up longer.

The best time to work out is in the morning.

3. Get To Nature

Have you had enough of nature? Have you taken any trips lately to the mountains, ocean or to the forest? There’s nothing better than to soak in nature and sleep better at night. Even just a few hours makes a big difference.

4. What’s The Bed Like?

Look at your sleeping environment. Is your bed firm enough? Is your pillow too thick or too thin? Are you warm enough? Are you too hot at night? Change any of these factors that influence your sleep at night.

5. Are Pets Interfering With Your Sleep?

In one study, more than 50% of those polled said that pets woke them up at night or took over the bed, causing sleep deprivation.

Are your pets part of the problem? It may break your heart to kick them out of the bed, but there are other alternatives.

For example, set up a little bed for your pet right next to the bed, and your pet won’t know that he or she isn’t sleeping on the bed with you. Your pet just wants to be close to you; that’s how pack animals act.

6. Consider Taking Herbal Or Nutritional Sleep Aids

There are several different sleep aids that have helped thousands of people over the years. Some of them include the following:

Melatonin
Tryptophane
Calcium
Magnesium
Chamomile Herb
Valerian Herb
Melissa Officinalis
Catnip Herb

7. Are You Getting Enough Sunshine?

Your body needs enough vitamin D to activate your body’s metabolic pathways.

When you get the vitamin D you need, then the body’s hormonal systems are activated and fully functioning.

We still don’t know everything about how the hormones interact with each other in the body, but we do know that the vitamin D from sunshine is enough to prevent depression, and depression is one of the things that can prevent you from getting enough sleep.

Try to get about 7 hours sunshine a week. This can be all at once or an hour a day.

Using these suggestions, you can now go get some sleep! Don’t let it bother you that you’re over 40!

Why Every Parent Should Take Kids Camping Monthly

Scott — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 08:44:57 +0000

If you’re over 40, you may have teenagers and be at a loss to figure out what to do with them on the weekend.

You’re probably tired of doing any of the following with the family:

Having the kids’ friends over for slumber parties

Taking them skating, bumper cars, carnivals, and water parks where there are often hundreds of people

Going out for dinner

Going out for movies that are a little questionable, but you don’t know this ahead of time

Spending time in the money, as well as the hard-earned money you bring home in a salary

Always feeling that you have to outdo yourself every weekend

There is an easier way. And it’s one that is simple, yet profound. It instills good values in your kids. And you never have to worry about their values being compromised.

The #1 Activity To Consider Is Family Camping!

If you’re concerned at all about their future health, do consider this idea: family camping.

The reason why family camping is the best idea for their health was proven just recently in March 2011 in the International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology. This discovery came before the Japanese earthquake hit the area.

And there’s one thing you should know about Japan that you may not know already:

Researchers at the Department of Hygiene and Public Health at the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo discovered that the trees released a natural substance called phytoncides.

These phytoncides activated natural killer cells and anti-cancer proteins for more than 30 days in the human subjects!

And that’s not all.

The phytoncides also decreased stress hormone levels for more than 30 days, too.

Now, the researchers didn’t take the study participants camping. Instead they took them to a beautiful forest park and left them there for only a few hours.

So imagine the benefits to your family if you go camping with them overnight. You’re essentially programming their bodies to kill cancer cells.

And that’s not all.

Real Benefits Of Camping For Those Under And Over 40

Going camping with your family has other benefits, too. Here’s a short list of some of them:

1. Serious Bonding

Great bonding experience for everyone. Years later, you’ll all look back at “that camping trip when Dad burned all the food… or Mom was so scared of the skunk that she screamed so loud and everyone came running.”

2. Healthy

Healthy for the parents, too, since cancer tends to hit those over 40 more often than the younger generations. (It’s those phytoncides.)

3. Survival Skills

Teaches kids how to survive on their own away from the modern conveniences of life, a skill that may become useful in times of unpredictable disasters, thus increasing your child’s ability to survive.

4. Inexpensive

Camping is one of the most cost-effective hobbies of all, after you have all the camping equipment. You can drive to the campsite. There are no hotel costs or airline costs.

Meals are pre-planned ahead of time, and even if you purchase food in a nearby town, then you’ll still save considerably more money than you would if you had to eat out at restaurants.

5. New Friends

You’ll meet new friends at campsites when you go family camping.

6. Become A True Nature Lover

Your whole family will love nature and learn to seek quiet and a little solitude.

This is especially important because as your kids get to the over 40 age group themselves, they will recall what it’s like to seek for that solitude. The solitude can be very healing.

7. Activity And Exercise

Camping gets you moving. Between putting up a tent, hiking, collecting herbs or berries in the forest, and swimming or horseback riding, you’re getting a lot more activities than you would at home. Thus, it’s a chance to stay fit.

Where can you take your family for your next family camping outing? Start planning today!

Are Your Hands Aging You? Skin Care Tips For Hands

Scott — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:14:31 +0000

Wrinkled Hands A Problem For You?

Some people spend time, effort and money on skin care products or cosmetic procedures for their faces to keep themselves looking younger.

However the truth is, if you forget to take care of your hands, they’re certain to give your real age away.

The hands are, very often, the first part of your body to show the signs of aging and what’s more the skin on your hands may age faster than the skin on your face.

This happens because the skin on the back of the hands is thinner than the skin on the face.

The back of the hands store very little fat, so when the skin’s collagen and elastin fibers begin to break down during the normal aging process, the results are faster and more noticeable.

Hand skin can become wrinkled, crepe-like and veins may begin to bulge and become more noticeable.

Exposure to the sun’s harmful rays is a major cause of skin aging but the effects are even more apparent when it comes to the hands.

As a result of sun damage, areas of pigmentation also show up on the hands, these are known as age spots or liver spots.

Hands are also particularly susceptible to the signs of aging because we use them so much. They are usually exposed to household chemicals on a daily basis and they’re nearly always exposed to the elements.

It’s never too late to look after aging hands, although, as with most things the earlier you start the better.

There are many cosmetic procedures you can turn to if you want to have younger looking hands, such as peels, wax treatments and even filler injections, but in this article we will consider hand rejuvenation that all-natural way.

How To Make Your Hands Look Younger

To keep age spots and wrinkles on the hands at bay it makes sense to care for your hands in the same way you do your face.

This means more than simply applying some anti aging hand cream now and again.

A once a week deep moisturizing treatment can help to keep your hands looking good and hold off the signs of aging. Here’s how:

1. Begin by soaking your hands in warm water for 5 minutes, you can add a drop of milk to the water if you like.

2. Gently exfoliate the skin on the back of your hands. You can make a homemade exfoliator easily, simply by combining sea salt or sugar with water.

If you like you can add honey to the grainy granules or a teaspoon of an aromatherapy base oil such as sweet almond or grapeseed oil.

Some people like to add a dash of rosewater to their scrub to add fragrance or a drop of essential oil.

But make sure you don’t choose an essential oil that is photosensitive, such as the citrus-based oils, as this is likely to cause areas of hyperpigmentation on your skin when exposed to daylight and, especially, strong sunshine.

Lavender and chamomile are excellent aromatherapy oils for the hands.

Try to avoid citrus and floral oils as these may irritate the thin skin on the hands.

Rub the exfoliator into your skin for a few minutes using gentle circular movements, then rinse away with warm water and pat your hands dry.

3. After exfoliation you can apply hand cream, some people choose to apply a thick layer of hand cream at night and then cover their hands with a pair of very fine cotton gloves – leaving them overnight to lock in and soak up the moisture thus increasing the anti aging effects.

Looking After Your Hands

Moisture is lost from the hands every time they come into contact with water.

If you think about it, that’s a lot of potential damage as we may wash up, wash our hands or perform household cleaning tasks several times each day.

Try to get into the habit of keeping hand cream in various places around your home. Some people even keep hand cream by their computers as they work.

Keep some by every sink and basin in your home and reapply as often as necessary. Protecting your hands from the sun is also another important way to prevent aging hands.

Remember to use sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 on your hands especially during the hottest months. Also protect your hands from cold weather and strong wind by wearing gloves when out and about.

Age Spots

Age spots on hands, sometimes known as liver spots, are a dead giveaway of the aging process. They appear as flat darker patches of skin and can give your hands a ‘mottled’ look.

They are very common in older people and an unfortunate part of aging; they are generally caused by sun damage and can be prevented by following the advice given on sun protection above.

Home Remedies For Age Spots On Hands

1. Honey And Yougurt Hand Mask

Combine 2 teaspoons of raw, runny honey and 2 teaspoons of natural yougurt and apply to your hands as you would a facemask. Leave to dry for 30 minutes then rinse away with warm water.

The combination of honey and yougurt is thought to act as a gentle, natural bleach. You may need to apply the mask every day for several weeks before you see results. So be patient.

2. Direct Treatments

Dabbing your age spots with neat, freshly squeezed lemon juice may help to reduce their appearance of age.

Lemon juice has a mildly acidic and bleaching effect and helps to uncover new layers of skin, by stripping away dead skin cells.

Apply a dab of lemon juice directly onto any age spots, twice per day, for several weeks to improve their appearance. Be careful not to expose your hands to daylight/sunlight after applying lemon juice.

If you prefer you can use buttermilk instead of lemon juice, the treatment is the same; you simply apply dabs of buttermilk to the age spots.

Buttermilk contains lactic acid that may help to encourage new cell growth and lighten areas of hyperpigmentation.

Natural Beauty The Natural Way

If you would like to learn more natural skin care secrets and find out about home remedies that you can easily make yourself, the Naturally Skinsational eBook is all you need.

This eBook is packed full of helpful anti aging tips that can help to keep your skin looking glowing and vibrant no matter what your age.

Tips To Help With Thinning Hair “In” Women Over 40

Scott — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 08:49:25 +0000

Female Hair Loss

Hair loss is often thought of as a predominantly male complaint however the truth is that women as just as likely as men to lose or have thinning hair.

Although it is more common in women who are in their 50s and 60s, it can happen at any age.

Hair loss in women over 40 is becoming a more widespread problem, with some experts citing the stresses of modern day living as being partly to blame.

Understanding Hair Thinning In Women

Your hair has three different phases of growth, these are known as:

Anagen
Catagen
Telogen

The majority of hair on your head is in the anagen phase – this is known as the growth phase and lasts for approximately two – eight years.

The catagen phase lasts for a much shorter period of time, usually between two – three weeks and during this phase the hair follicles shrink in size.

The third phase, telogen, is the resting phase for your hair and usually lasts between two – four months.

The average person loses somewhere between 50 – 100 strands of hair per day. This is entirely normal; however for some women hair loss becomes more noticeable.

While men’s hair tends to recede along the forehead and on the crown of the head women tend to notice hair loss over the top of the scalp.

The hair parting may become wider or, when the hair is tied back, more of the scalp may be visible.

Diagnosing Female Hair Loss

If you are experiencing hair loss the first thing you need to do is visit your doctor. Hair loss can be caused by a medical condition and it is therefore important to rule out any underlying health issue.

Thyroid disorders, anemia, autoimmune illnesses and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can all cause hair loss in women.

If blood tests reveal that none of these are applicable to you, then it may be that you have what is known as female pattern hair loss, or androgenetic alopecia as it is sometimes referred to.

Female pattern hair loss is often hereditary so it can help to think about your mother and other female relatives such as aunts, sisters and grandmothers to see if any of them have, or had, similar experiences with hair loss.

The problem of female pattern hair loss is caused by shrinking hair follicles, as they become smaller any hair that is lost is replaced with thinner, finer hair.

Eventually the hair follicles stop growing altogether and the scalp may become more visible.

Natural Treatment For Thinning Hair In Women

1. Diet

Diet plays an important part in keeping hair looking good as you age. Crash or faddy dieting, anorexia and a lack of vital nutrients can all contribute to female hair loss.

If your hair loss is related to anemia you may be prescribed iron tablets. Even if you don’t have anemia making sure your iron intake is adequate may help your hair loss problem.

Eating foods rich in iron is a good way to up your intake of this essential nutrient naturally and safely.

Egg yolks, red meat and green leafy vegetables are all high in iron. If you eat iron-rich foods, drinking freshly squeezed orange juice just after eating is thought to enhance your body’s ability to absorb iron.

Protein is also an essential nutrient for healthy hair, and a diet that is low in protein may contribute to hair loss.

Protein rich foods to include in your diet include lean meats, fish, low fat dairy products, beans, nuts and soy protein.

Other Essential Nutrients For Hair Include:

Iodine found in seafood, garlic, milk, eggs and iodized salt
Zinc found in nuts, seeds, oysters, beef and lamb
Biotin found in salmon, whole wheat bread, cheese and eggs

2. Disguising The Problem

Some women get around the problem of hair loss by disguising the affected areas. There are a number of ways to do this:

➜ Volumizing Products

Volumizing hair products can help to bulk up thinning hair. It may be worth spending a little extra on products sold in salons, as some cheaper volumizing products are not very effective at all.

Plumping up your hair with specially formulated shampoos, conditioners and thickening sprays or lotions can help to give you hair and your confidence a much- needed boost.

➜ Cosmetic Camouflage

This involves the use of ‘hair make up’ to disguise patches of thinning hair.

Some people use specially formulated color make up pencils to cover up smaller or thinning areas on the parting. These are usually waterproof and can be used in combination with hair thickening sprays or powders.

These contain particles that help to cover up balding patches of hair and are usually sprayed or sprinkled onto the affected areas.

They then need to be fixed with a hairspray. Hair powder particles and sprays come in variety of different shades to match any hair color.

➜ Hair Styling

If thinning hair is only a minor problem it may be possible to disguise the thinning areas with clever hair styling. Certain hair styles can help to cover up balding areas.

➜ Hair Pieces And Weaves

These offer a good solution to the problem of hair thinning, adding volume to make hair appear thicker, or helping to cover patches of thinning hair.

If hair loss is significant wigs or hair transplant surgery offer the same solution although costs may be much higher.

➜ Hats And Scarves

Some people use hats and scarves or other hair accessories to cover thinning patches of hair.

Addressing The Problem Of Female Hair Loss

For some people, the temporary measures mentioned above may help to minimize some of the upsetting feelings and emotions associated with female hair loss.

Other people want to try to tackle the problem at its very core, with the aim of growing back any hair that has been lost.

The Hair Loss Black Book provides a complete education in male and female hair loss.

Giving you all the answers you need to understand why you are losing hair, and the solutions to help you take back control of your thinning hair.

Using Herbs For Libido Improvement After The Age Of 40

Scott — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 09:49:53 +0000

After you hit the age of 40, loss of desire in men or in women starts to become quite common.

Once this starts happening, many people lose their desire for life. They live life as if they are holding onto life by a thread.

They’re emotionally unsatisfied, and often, so are their partners.

Low sex drive is when you don’t have a desire to have sex, or your desire is a lot less than usual. A person with low sex drive is also associated with:

Moodiness
Depression
Not feeling virile or vital
Lack of interest in other pleasures in life
Weight gain or lack of muscle tone

Why Loss Of Libido Is Becoming More And More Common

Some experts say that we’ve created our own circumstances that led to the development of loss of libido.

For example, years ago, a researcher found that alligators in Florida were not reproducing as they should have been.

Their numbers were dwindling to the lowest of all time.

Now I don’t know about you, but I personally think this isn’t a bad thing…

#1 Reason: Disruption Of Reproductive Hormones In The Environment

But the fact is that the researchers traced the problem to the estrogen-like compounds in the environment that were interfering with reproduction.

If male alligators had too many female hormones, then reproduction wasn’t going to happen. The same thing is true for women.

Increase the estrogen too much from too many estrogen mimickers in the environment and you get a PMS, stressed-out woman who is too bitchy to have sex!

And when the estrogen mimickers increase in the body of men, that’s when you’ll see symptoms such as man boobs, a condition where the man’s breast size starts to grow and essentially look like woman’s breast tissue.

How much sex drive do you think a man with this condition is going to have?

Oh, the power of hormones!

#2 Reason For Loss Of Libido: Diabetes

Diabetes interferes with blood circulation. It interferes with the production of NO or nitric oxide, which is essential to the lovemaking process.

It is associated with neuropathy whereby the nerves to different parts of the body lose their proper function and result in numbness or odd sensations like feelings of coldness, heat, or pins and needles.

#3 Dependence On Prescription Drugs

This problem is just a matter of not knowing that one’s prescription drugs are causing loss of libido.

There is a whole list of medications that can interfere with sexual function, and many of them are used in the treatment of high blood pressure, diabetes, and pain killers.

Herbs For Libido For Men

1. Muira Puama

This herb is used for low libido, fatigue and to enhance sexuality and sensuality.

In France, this herb has been used to treat erectile dysfunction. Working on the nervous system to offer support to it, this herb is great for when a person is stressed out.

And often in life, it’s a matter of dealing with one catastrophe after the next, which doesn’t exactly help create passion in the bedroom.

2. Yohimbe

Yohimbine is the active ingredient in this herb that the medical profession uses to treat impotency.

However, it can have side effects where the penis stays stiffened for far too long, and causes pain in a man.

The natural herb Yohimbe, however, doesn’t have that side effect.

3. Ginkgo

Known for effects on increasing circulation, ginkgo has been shown in research to increase blood flow to the reproductive organs.

More blood flow too the organs brings more oxygenation and better functioning of the organ, too.

4. Catuaba

Used for its aphrodisiac properties, Catuaba bark is often combined with Muira Puama.

It increases erotic dreams.

5. Oats

Oats contain beta sitosterol, which can be used as a precursor for testosterone or female hormones. Some experts think it can modulate a man’s hormone levels or a woman’s.

6. Ashwagandha

Used for testosterone boosting, this herb has been used for centuries by Indian Ayurvedic physician.

7. Coleus

This herb relaxes the smooth muscles and increases circulation to the sexual organs.

8. Stinging Nettles

This herb has been shown in the research to be helpful for testosterone levels.

9. Maca

Maca increases nitric oxide which is created during the mating process. It can counteract male impotency.

Herbs For Libido For Women

1. Dong Quai

This herb can help modulate female hormones.

Without female hormones that are in the proper ranges, women’s moods are high and low, low and high, and totally unpredictable.

It’s difficult to have proper sexual functioning when moodiness predominates.

Many of the same herbs mentioned above are also used for loss of desire in women, too.

It turns out that the herbs can work in both male and females in many cases.

If you have loss of libido, there are many solutions.

But the most important thing to start with is to check your prescription medications to see if loss of desire in men or loss of desire in women is listed as a side effect.

This simple step has helped a lot of people, who then don’t even need herbs for libido.

Celebrity Secrets To Maintaining A Hot Body After 40

Scott — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:37:35 +0000

For years, top actors and actresses in Hollywood have held celebrity diet secrets and celebrity fitness secrets close to their hearts that they never shared.

Then something mysterious happened.

Divorce rates skyrocketed, even among religious groups of people who didn’t believe in divorce.

Possibly it was the breakdown of the family in society that led to the development of lawsuits against family members.

A son or daughter sued their parents for mismanagement of money the child earned as an actor or actress.

Another son took vengeance into his own hands and shot the mother or father to death for all the brutality that he suffered as a child.

Another daughter wrote a book on how bad Mommy Dearest really was.

As more and more of these family secrets came out into the public limelight, the philosophy to tell all seemed to spread to extended family members.

Celebrities usually had an entourage of staff with them at any time, and a butler or maid might write a book and tell all.

Secrets got out. Hollywood diet secrets of top stars, and celebrity fitness secrets of men like Arnold Schwartzaneggar, the Hulk and other top bodybuilders were shared in popular magazines.

Some of the celebrity diet secrets and workouts became well known from personal trainers of celebrities.

One personal trainer in Hollywood, Natasha Kufa, is telling all her secrets in her book released just this month. She’s the most contemporary of all those who are telling their secrets.

Google her name and find out more about how she whips the celebrity bodies into the fittest shape of their life and what celebrity diet tips she has to offer.

Celebrity Diets And Workouts: Some Don’t Diet And Workout!

And here’s one of the celebrity fitness secrets that you really need to know now if you want to get in the best shape possible with the least amount of work:

Use the Victoria Morton Suddenly Slender Body Wrap process.

Victoria Morton is an amazing woman in her own right. Now well past the age of 40 and into her 70s, Victoria still has a body of someone in their 20s.

She’s used the proprietary solution she created for the celebrities on herself for all these years. And it’s worked.

Her proprietary solution is a combination of minerals and other substances that penetrate into the skin and facilitate a detoxification to occur. When cells are detoxified, they give up their toxins.

In other words, the pesticides and chemicals we eat and breathe are trapped in our body until we physically do something to remove them.

The chemicals are associated with ill health, and the more toxic the cells become, the more sick we become.

Hollywood Celebrity Diet Secrets Are Often Ancient Detoxification Strategies

Detoxification and cleansing is a simple principle of natural health that has been identified since very early times, and early civilizations.

Loofah

Japanesse and Korean women scrubbed the skin with loofahs until the skin glowed, rubbing away all old skin cells and did so on a regular basis.

When they did, people felt better and their skin breathed.

It was easier for the body to eliminate toxins once the skin was cleaned in this manner.

Celebrities have also used loofahs to get their skin looking good, but now they’ve been replaced with exfoliation treatments and microdermabrasion at the spa.

That’s how they have always had beautiful, camera-happy skin that looks like peaches and cream.

Celebrity Fitness Secret: Carve Out A Body By Getting Mummified

Victoria’s body wrap process involves soaking elastic bandages in her proprietary solution, then applying the bandages to the skin.

In other words, the person is wrapped like a mummy. During the hour or so that the bandages remain on the body, it’s important to baste the bandages with more of the proprietary solution.

When the bandages are removed, then several inches are gone from waistline, hips, legs, and arms, as the skin tightened up.

The cells that lost the toxins suddenly became skinny and so did the person. This is a natural byproduct of the detoxification process.

If you have a series of wraps before a big event such as a wedding, awards ceremony, anniversary party or school reunion, you can expect to fit into a size smaller clothes in your closet.

There have been people who signed up for weekly wraps and slowly whittled down their size for 300 pounds to 170 pounds.

Slowly they forced those toxins out of the body and began losing inches, feeling better and better, and repeating the process again and again.

It’s important to repeat the process; since we all are constantly being bombarded from the environment with chemicals, we all have to constantly detoxify. It’s just the nature of life.

Victoria Morton’s body wraps can be found online by doing a Google search for her name and the wrap. She has a franchise chain of salons that service the world.

Celebrities have used her method for decades and it works.

And this Hollywood celebrity diet or fitness tip will still work, whether or not Hollywood goes away.

For more info on how to improve your health over the age of 40, and how to look as good as any celebrity, see the ebook Fit Over 40 program.

How Salt Affects People Over The Age Of 40

Scott — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:21:00 +0000

Knowing salt health effects and salt health risks are important to anyone over the age of 40.

As your number of candles increase on your birthday cake, something else rises: health risks.

You become more prone to develop disease.

One of the greatest risks is for high blood pressure, which is directly related to salt and sodium intake.

Before you cut out every bit of salt from your diet, it’s important to learn the salt health effects and salt health risks.

There actually are some health benefits of salt, but these health benefits are due to the sodium in the salt, not the salt itself.

Salt Health Effects And Health Benefits Of Salt

Here’s a list of what sodium (not sodium chloride – salt) does in the body:

‣ Along with potassium, sodium regulates the acid-base balance in the body, maintaining the pH of the blood where it’s supposed to be.

‣ Along with potassium, sodium regulates water balance in the body.

‣ Important for muscles to contract.

‣ Important for nerves to function.

‣ Necessary for hydrochloric acid production in the stomach.

‣ Helps purge carbon dioxide in the body.

Salt Health Risks

Clinical studies show that low sodium diets can benefit high blood pressure, blurred vision, toxemia from bacterial poisoning, swelling and protein in the urine.

In a recent study, New Zealand researchers wanted to see what would happen if people with high blood pressure who were on a low sodium diet went back to eating salt.

Would their blood pressure rise?

The answer was yes, it did rise and so did something called pulse wave velocity, a measure of the stiffness of the arteries.

It’s detrimental to those who have high blood pressure to consume a lot of salt.

How Much Salt Is Too Much?

But what’s a lot of salt? Researchers estimate that the average person consumes 10 to 12 grams salt per day, twice as much as what is recommended by the World Health Organization. (Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009)

This amount is equal to about 4 teaspoons. Many health experts in the U.S. recommend an amount far less – only 2 grams daily and some go as low as 1500 mg per day.

When dietary sodium levels are less than 1500 mg per day, you can expect blood pressure to drop 11.4 mm Hg in the top number (systolic blood pressure) and 5.5 mm Hg in the bottom number (diastolic blood pressure).

This is equal to only one teaspoon or less per day, an amount that includes sodium in food, not just salt added to foods.

The average type of salt contains anywhere from 1100 mg up to 2400 mg sodium in just a teaspoon.

For example, If your blood pressure is 150/85, it would fall to 139/80. A blood pressure reading of 150/85 is considered high blood pressure; 139/80 is borderline. The difference is the prescription of blood pressure medication.

How We Eat Too Much Salt And Sodium

It’s also estimated that about 80 per cent of the salt in the diet comes from processed foods, thus foods such as the ones on the list below should be avoided if you tend to have high blood pressure:

Processed cheese
Processed meats
Processed cereals
Processed soups
Packaged foods
Pasta sauces
Gravies, pre-made
Salad dressings
Marinades
Bouillon cubes

This actually makes it easier to cut the salt down in one’s diet, and reduce salt health risks.

To make things more complicated, different salts contain different amounts of sodium in them.

Type of Salt	Sodium in ½ teaspoon	Sodium in 1 teaspoon
Morton kosher salt	960 mg	1920 mg sodium
Trader Joe’s Kosher Salt	1460 mg	2920 mg sodium
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt	560 mg	1120 mg

This tells us not to generalize and read labels constantly, no matter what we are buying. If we like a little salt on our foods, it’s best to choose salt varieties with less sodium.

How To Tell If A Food Is A Salt Health Risk

You may often see salt listed on the ingredients of a food. The next thing to do is to look at the label to read how much sodium is in one serving.

After that, look for sodium preservatives and chemicals such as the following:

Foods That Are Salt Health Risks

‣ Monosodium Glutamate (used in canned meats, Chinese foods)
‣ Sodium Sulfite (used as a preservative in dried fruits)
‣ Sodium Nitrite (especially found in processed meats)
‣ Sodium Alginate (used as a binding agent)
‣ Sodium Propionate (used in breads)
‣ Sodium Hydroxide (used as a base)

Here’s a list of some specific foods with the highest sources of sodium, along with the amount of sodium in them:

Caviar	623 mg sodium/ounce
Canadian Bacon	1197 mg / 3 ounce
Ham, cured, canned	837 mg / 3 ounces
Canned chick peas	300 mg / ½ cup
Baking powder	1000 mg / teaspoon

Some cans of soup on the market have over 850 mg sodium in just one serving!

Don’t let food manufacturers throw you off track because they want to put their product in the limelight.

850 mg sodium per serving is way more than what the body can handle at any one meal from just one food!

And it adds up too fast to the total for the day, pushing our arteries over the limit of what they can handle.

Signs That Your Blood Pressure May Be High

There aren’t very many signs or symptoms that a person has high blood pressure.

Some people may feel as if they have a headache while others feel angry for no reason at all. This inner anger is the result of excessive neural tone in the nervous system from high levels of noradrenaline.

That’s why it’s called the Hidden Killer.

Salt can be a killer, if you eat too much and experience the salt health risks. But it also can be a savior if you eat salt for the sake of salt benefits.