Warm Up Exercises For Women Over 40

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Being over 40, you need to warm up a little bit longer. You might need to warm up for 10-15 minutes.

Why Warm Up?

Take the time to acclimate your body, increasing blood flow and increasing temperature of your muscles will help you get a better workout. A good warm up will increase your heart rate, loosens up your tendons and ligaments, and help lubricate your joints in preparation of getting the most out of your workout.
Warm up using your choice of cardio equipment. I like to start my clients off with the treadmill. Start with walking and build to a faster walk pace or a light jog. You can also use an elliptical for non-impact warm ups. I like to use standing up cardio like the treadmill or elliptical. You will incorporate your full body as opposed to sitting on a bike. Same rules…start slow and pick up the pace as you get warmer.
If you are not using equipment, I like my clients to warm up with side stepping, marches in place, lite jog in place, etc. and build up to jumping jacks or other impact exercises if the client doesn’t have any joint issues. See below for some examples of warm up exercises.

Warm Up Exercises For Women Over 40

Finish your warm up with some dynamic stretches. You can read more here about dynamic stretches.

Warm Up Exercises For Women Over 40

Side Stepping

Instructions

Start by stepping out on the right foot to the right side of your body. Then bring in the left foot to the right.
Step out on the left foot to the left side and bring the right foot to the left.
Continue to go back a forth.
For increased intensity, swing your arms front and back as you step.

Curtsy with Jack Arms

Instructions

Start standing with feet together.
Take a side step to your left while bringing your right leg behind and on the diagonal back.
Bend the knees (like you are curtsying).
As you stand back up to transition to the other side, bring your arms out and up above your head.
Repeat on the other side.

Nicole’s Trainer Tips: Try to keep as much weight as you can in the front heel during the curtsy.

Butt Kickers

Instructions

Similar to jogging in place but you bring feet up to tap your butt as you run. Can be done with feet flexed or pointed.

After your warm up ALWAYS get in your dynamic stretches before starting your workout. Read more here.

Passive Cool Down Stretches For Women Over 40

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It is just as important to cool down as it is to warm up properly (click to read more about how to warm up properly)

Most women over 40 completely skip the cool down!

I get it! You feel you are short on time because you have to go back to the office…but skipping the cool down is like slamming on your car brakes going 100 miles per hour.

By performing your cool down, you are helping your body recover and acclimate to normal activities.

What Is A Passive Stretch?

Passive stretches (or static stretches) are when you hold a stretch and passively increase the range of motion or elongate the muscle. As opposed to a dynamic stretch where you are gently moving through your active joint range of motion. (Read more on dynamic stretching here).

Here Are Some Passive Cool Down Stretches For Women Over 40

Hamstring Stretch Lying Single Leg

Instructions

Lie on back with both knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
Bring left leg up, grab calf or behind thigh.
Gently pull leg towards your head.
Hold and breathe.

Nicole’s Trainer Tips:

Keep tailbone on the floor as you stretch.
Straighten knee of leg being stretched.
Flex foot for add intensity to stretch.
If you cannot grab calf, grab back of thigh. Do not grab directly behind your knee.

Cobra Stretch

Instructions

Lie on floor face down.
Bring hands up under shoulders.
Push into ground while lifting your torso up.

Nicole’s Trainer Tips:

Keep abs engaged and feel the stretch in the abs not in the back.
Modified- place elbows on the floor.
Regular- push up on hands.

Sitting Kickstand Neck Stretch

Instructions

Sitting clasp hands behind your back.
Place on floor as far back as you can.
Sit up straight.
Bend chin to chest.
Hold.

Nicole’s Trainer Tips:

Press hands into floor and use as a “kickstand” as leverage.
Pressing into the floor will help you press the chest forward increasing the stretch.

Are you making these mistakes? Read more here.

Dynamic Warm Up Stretches For Women Over 40

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It is important to warm up before you perform these dynamic stretches. To see how to warm up read more here.

Dynamic stretches are stretches which move you through the exercise as opposed to a static stretch where you are just holding the stretch. Do not bounce in your dynamic stretches. Theses stretches are meant to take you through your active joint range of motion as opposed to a static stretch where you can gently push towards the end range of your joints.

Why Use Dynamic Warm Up Stretches?

After you have completed your 5-15 minute warm up, your body is still getting prepared for your workout. You want to keep the body moving as you are loosening up your ligaments and tendons while stretching the muscles. Adding in dynamic warm up stretches may help prevent injuries.

Here are some great examples of dynamic warm up stretches for women over 40

Lunge Stretch into Pyramid Stretch

Instructions

Stand with feet hip width apart and turn hips towards right leg.
Bend front knee to lower into a lunge with back leg straight.
Drop into hip flexors (the front of hips) for stretch.
Straighten front knee and try to keep a flat back.
Repeat.

Nicole’s Trainer Tips:

Keep the hips square to the leg you are stretching.
Try to straighten the knees.
Try to put nose on knee in pyramid pose.

Plie Stretch Pushing Knees Back

Instructions:

Standing with feet shoulder width apart and toes angled outward.
Keep back straight and lower hips so you knees are at a 90 degree angle.
Gently push back on knees with hands.
Hold at the bottom for recommended time.
Return to starting position.

Nicole’s Trainer Tips:

Keep the weight in your heels.
Imagine there is a tension rod between your knees and you are trying to squeeze it together.
Make sure knees stay in line with feet when bending.

Wide Leg Alternating Stretch

Instructions

Stand with feet hip width apart.
Bend forward at the waist and reach over to the right foot and hold.
Then reach over to the left foot and hold.

Diet Deprivation:Why Diets Make You Feel Deprived

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Why Diets Make You Feel Deprived - Shape It Up - Nicole Simonin

So, don’t yell at me but diets don’t make you feel deprived…

YOU make yourself feel deprived.

SAY WHAT NICOLE???

Please don’t get me wrong…. you do NOT need to be on a diet to be successful at weight loss.

Say you have set a goal for yourself to eat a certain way for this “diet”.

Week 1 of Your Diet Deprivation

The first week you are on fire!

You’ve nailed every meal and the scale is showing you are down a few pounds.

Yeah you!!

You’ve managed to get through the weekend and you’re are heading into week two.

Week 2 of Your Diet Deprivation

Beginning of week two starts off good but then you have a dinner business meeting at your favorite restaurant. AHHHHH!

Now, how are you going to eat out at a restaurant when you are on this diet.

You go to the restaurant armed and ready to eat as close to the diet as you can.

But ohhh that bread looks yummy and you are starving!

You eat the bread and start to feel a little guilty. “Well, it’s one piece of bread that’s not gonna totally derail me. Plus, I’ve been doing really good on my diet’.

Dinner comes… and then dessert. “Well, everyone else is having dessert. I don’t want to have to explain why I am ‘not allowed’ to have dessert. But I already had the bread…. we’ll I‘ll have dessert and then get right back to the diet tomorrow”.

On the ride home the guilt starts to kick in.

The verbal abuse that starts in your head is vicious which makes you feel even worse. “Why did I do that?! I totally blew it!”

The Diet Deprivation Begins

Sacrifice. Deprivation. Sadness. All these emotions start surfacing.

The problem isn’t the bread or the desserts. It’s the fact you made a promise to yourself to commit to this diet and now you are not honoring the commitment you made.

The bread doesn’t make you feel deprived. The bread is neutral. It didn’t jump into your mouth and force you to eat it. It’s the thoughts you have about the bread that make you feel like you are making a sacrifice and going through deprivation.

Only YOU can make yourself feel deprived.

Maybe you picked the wrong diet?…

Click here to read why fad diets are horrible for lifetime weight loss success!

Are you dating your fitness goals or are you married to them?

Commitment.

If your boss asked to meet you for dinner would you show up on time?

Would you make excuses as to why you can’t make it?

Would you just not show up?

This is how most people set up their fitness goals.

You make a commitment to yourself and then when things aren’t perfect you jump ship.

When you started your corporate career, you didn’t automatically become CEO. You worked your way up. I am sure you made plenty of mistakes but you kept going because becoming a female CEO was your goal. Your mentors helped guide you and assisted you to grow in your career. You learned from those mistakes.

Weight loss is no different.

Mistakes will be made.
Workouts will get missed.
You are going to overeat

As long as you never give up on your weight loss goal, you WILL get there. If you would like the path to be a bit smoother, I recommend you get a mentor or a coach to help you streamline the process for your journey.

Recap to Diet Deprivation

The bread didn’t make you do it. The thought about the bread is the problem. You made a commitment to yourself when you declared you were going to lose weight. Are you dating your goals or are you married to them?

Colleen’s Success Story

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Shape It Up Success Story

Colleen is down 40 lbs and several inches…

People she works with don’t recognize her…

She is great shape and thrilled with her new figure!

Stop Doing Workouts Designed For 20-Year Olds!

By Nicole Simonin Leave a Comment

Your Biggest Obstacle Is Your Mind

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You Don’t Have To Suffer To Lose Inches

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Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?

By Nicole Simonin 1 Comment

Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?

We all have a little voice inside our head (maybe you’ve named yours Jiminy Cricket – just kidding :-)…we hear this voice all day long.

Sometimes it tells us positive things and then other times not so positive. This little voice can become your own worst enemy!

Like when we find a task getting hard, this little voice sometimes tells us to “give up it’s too hard and can’t be done”.

I hear the phrase “I can’t do it!” quite often in my line of work.

My response: “You CAN do it. You can do anything you put your mind to. You may not be able to do it yet but you will!”

It might not be easy at first but if you keep working at it, you are going to see that your body can do some miraculous things.

Here are some quick tips to beating your own worst enemy:

1. Dream

What do you want to accomplish? What are your final fitness goals? Would you like to be a fitness model or maybe you would just like to walk up the stairs and not feel winded? Everyone’s goals will be different so make sure it’s a goal you are choosing for yourself. Envision what your life would be like once you have achieved this goal. Is it exciting? Does your heart skip a beat just thinking about it? If your heart doesn’t go pitter-patter keep digging for the goal that does.

2. Baby Steps

Now, that you have imagined what you want…you might start to feel a bit petrified. It can be overwhelming if you have a huge goal. Chunk it down. That big goal gets broken into easy manageable smaller goals. It could be something as small as “I will drink an extra two ounces of water per day”. Yes, something that small can get the ball rolling.

3. Get Moving

Go for a walk for 10 minutes each day. Then add more time as you like or break it into three 10 minute walks throughout the day. Take the stairs at work. Sit less in your chair. While watching tv do some marches in place during the commercials. Just move your body more than it usually does.

4. Plan

Always have a plan. Write down the days and times you will go for your walk or which meals you will incorporate more veggies. Stick to it. Don’t dismiss this. You will never change unless you change your current habits.

5. Be Prepared For Speed Bumps

There are times when “things will come up” like a death in the family or you overate at the wedding this past weekend or some other “speed bump”. Just get back on track as soon as you can. The faster the better.

I love hearing how clients who started off feeling like they can barely get through a training session and then couple weeks later they are stronger, more energized and are doing things they couldn’t have imagined doing before working with me.

Thanksgiving Loaf

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Thanksgiving Loaf

My daughter was craving some Thanksgiving food in the spring…Thanksgiving Loaf challenge accepted!

This is absolutely delicious comfort food! She absolutely loved the Thanksgiving Loaf (and I did too!!)

Ingredients

4 slices of bread
6 oz chicken broth, low sodium
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup Egg Whites
2T Poultry Seasoning (1 T for bread , 1 T for turkey)
1/2 tsp rosemary
2 lbs ground turkey
1/2 cup Cranberry sauce (Jellied)

Directions

Heat over to 350 degrees F. Chop up bread into cubes. Pour broth in a medium saucepan. Add bread and 1 T poultry seasoning and rosemary to pan. Cover with lid and heat on medium-low heat until the bread becomes soft, stirring so it mixes and doesn’t stick. In a large bowl, pour in egg whites and 1 T poultry spices. Mix together with a whisk. Add raw turkey to large bowl and mix together well. Add bread mixture to large bowl and mix well. Add cranberries and mix well. Place in sprayed loaf pan. Bake at 350 F for 50-55 minutes then cover lightly with foil, increase oven to 400 degrees F and cook an additional 15 minutes. Make sure it is cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degree F.

Top each serving with 2 tsp of turkey gravy and chow down!!

Serving: 4