Having a Healthy Heart

Snow is falling, so I am beginning to feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and getting an inexplicable urge to wish goodwill to all men. I love this time of year, but it is having a terrible effect on one thing – my exercise routine. My morning jog has become an essential part of my fitness routine, but I’m afraid I am not hardcore enough to run in the snow. Therefore, for the winter season, I have been focusing more on indoor cardio routines. I have been tinkering with a few different exercises and am gradually figuring out what I like and what I never want to do again. 

I began by trying out some of the exercises and I can feel my muscles working extremely hard when I do these exercises and hope they deliver on the promise of keeping away cardiovascular disease.

If you are a beginner, it’s important to start slowly. According to Healthline, the CDC recommends starting with just 20 minutes and then gradually building up the time and intensity. I started with a little more than this because my body was already used to a certain amount of exercise, but I guess it’s just about listening to your body’s needs.

I am really keen on increasing my heart health and avoiding any nasty diseases in future, and I have grown into a fan of this exercise in particular:

The Pelvic Tilt

 

1. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor
2. Pull pelvis and ribs off the floor for 10 second
3. Slowly lower back to the floor

I like this one because it is easy to do if I am short on time and really keeps my abdominal muscles working – even if it might not be so great for those who have back problems. Just play around and see what works for you and your body.

Swimming for Hot Flashes and Night Sweats

Waking up drenched in your own liquids or suddenly feeling like your head’s been dunked into a bucket of water while chatting to your neighbor is never a pleasant experience, and after a few embarrassing and uncomfortable incidents, I decided to do something about it. And I have found the perfect solution – swimming.

Conventional exercise is good for your overall health, of course, but can often trigger sweats that I am not always in the mood for. When you go swimming, the body is being cooled as it heats up so the overheating effect is somewhat counteracted, hence the reason it’s been featuring in my life a little more lately. I’m a big fan of pools now, so I want to share with you some of the main benefits.

It helps those bones and joints

As we get older, we unfortunately have to start worrying about the declining health of our bones and joints. With no intention of becoming my grandmother, who was riddled with back, joint, and skeletal issues (and spoke about it A LOT), I find swimming to be a great solution. I exercise hard in the water, so I reap all the benefits of being active, but at the same time avoid the damage that vigorous exercise can have on the spine and joints.

It’s actually a better exercise

Swimming and aqua aerobics might seem like a cop-out (and I must admit, it was one of the things that attracted me) but it is anything but! In fact, I feel more exhausted after a good water workout than anything I do on land. Apparently this is because the resistance of the water actually makes the heart rate increase, and so you are getting more bang for your buck, so to speak. The result for me – fewer hot flashes. J

Of course, I can’t attribute my decrease in hot flashes completely to swimming – even if all doctors tell us cardio exercise does help. I have also been taking this herbal supplement, Macafem, which I have found to be helpful. Go through the next link if you want more information on night sweats and hot flashes, or wish to find out a bit more about this supplement.

Prevent Osteoporosis: Work the Muscles!

As a woman of a certain age, I have had to come face-to-face with the unwelcome prospect that if I don’t get my act together now, I could be suffering from osteoporosis in the not-too-distant future. We’ve all heard what to eat and what to avoid for bone health, but exercises are an effective, though often overlooked, tool in the box. So, over the last few weeks I have been adding these exercises into a brand new routine, and it includes various exercises that I am promised will help prevent this bleak future from becoming a reality.

Time will tell as far as preventing osteoporosis is concerned, but I have noticed a marked improvement in my general fitness levels and muscle tone. I’ll share below some of the exercises that I’ve been doing that have been shown to improve bone health as well as decreasing the risk of having falls.

Lunges

Lunges take a bit of getting used to, but are an absolute godsend if smooth, toned legs is what you’re after. They’re also a nice, low-risk option of body weight exercises. I’ve also found they’re pretty easy to fit around a busy lifestyle (I usually squeeze them in just before I go to bed). But instead of boring you with the details, a quick video is worth a thousand words:

 

Jogging

I started by jogging just a few minutes a day, and now I can go for a "proper" run without feeling like I want to die. It can actually be quite relaxing to go at the weekend, and I’ve found it’s a great stress reliever too!
Spinal Extension Exercises

Whenever I have a few spare minutes, I sit on the floor with my back straight, look up at the ceiling, and arch my back. This I do a few times in front of the TV and then feel justified in being a couch potato.

Follow the next link if you’re really excited about the osteoporosis-fighting idea, then you can hunt for extra tips here. That website goes into a little more detail about the whys and hows, and gives some great tips.

2 Options To Tackle Menopausal Incontinence

Incontinence is possibly one of those symptoms that are never part of polite conversation, even if it is fairly common during menopause. There’s a reason why leaks happen while coughing, sneezing, or laughing: the lack of hormones – which is already affecting you all over – is also weakening the pelvic floor muscle, which essentially holds the bladder in place. 

I’ll try to save my own embarrassing anecdotes, but I will share two different approaches to help you banish incontinence for good: Kegel exercises and timed voiding.

First, Kegel exercises:

Kegel exercises are described by gynecologists as the gold standard when it comes to fighting menopausal incontinence. They are basically weight lifting for your pelvic floor muscles, and are also said to improve libido and fix vaginal dryness because they stimulate blood flow to the area.

Sources: 34-menopause-symptoms.com

The idea is to repeatedly squeeze your pelvic floor muscles – as if you were trying to stop your urine mid-flow. Just hold the squeeze for 3 seconds, and then relax for 3 more seconds before doing another rep. The goal should be 10 reps, three times a day, for at least a week before trying to increase your “holding” time by one second. 

The only downside of Kegels: they take a bit of patience – about a month before you can sneeze without fear. So the other approach I tried was mostly to play it safe while Kegels became effective.

Second approach, timed voiding:

Timed voiding is a way to take preemptive action against “accidents” by scheduling your trips to the bathroom beforehand. The concept is simple: go to restroom, even if you don’t feel the need to, at a certain interval, every day. This way, you can make sure your bladder is never so full as to let loose during inconvenient times of the day.

However, this approach requires a fair bit of planning ahead in order to calculate your ideal intervals and to schedule them in a way that they are consistent with your meal and drink schedule. Some people use special vibrating watches, although an interval alarm on your smartphone is just as good. The other downside is that this method will require you to avoid road trips or long errand runs in which you won’t have a restroom around… at least until the Kegels take effect. 

An extra option against menopausal incontinence includes taking some menopause supplements. I’ve had a great experience combining Macafem and cranberry supplements, which kept me from getting a UTI (which is sadly very common if you have incontinence).

I hope this helps!

 

Sources

https://www.nationalincontinence.com/s/TimedVoiding

http://www.34-menopause-symptoms.com/incontinence/articles/4-must-know-facts-about-kegel-exercises.htm