ThirdAge Health Close-up: Pilates
Posted: June 7, 2012 at 11:17 am
By Judy Kirkwood
Im doing Pilates machines workouts by the process of elimination. Ive tried and given up just about everything else. For the last year, my friends words have echoed in my guilt chamber: Just pay the money and do Pilates machines classes. They work!
I had to agree, considering that my friend and her husband, whom Id known for years, no longer had their familiar pudgy guts. But my hesitation was because of the money, as it is an expensive workout, and also because of my complete ignorance of the machines, which look like variations on an obstetrics table and other torturous appliances. However, Ive found the machines provide great strengthening workouts THAT I CAN DO ON MY BACK! What could be better than that?
A quick rundown on Pilates. The methodology is credited to Joseph Pilates. In an internment camp in England during World War I with other German nationals, he created a system of resistance exercises using springs and hospital beds to help those who were confined and bedridden to increase their strength. After the war, his methods were adapted as part of a modern dance curriculum. Because many of the exercises are performed in reclining or sitting positions, and most are low impact and only partially weight bearing, Pilates is so safe it can be used as physical therapy to recover from injuries.
The main piece of equipment we use in my Pilates class at Lents Pilates in Delray Beach, Florida is the Reformer. Its a sliding, padded platform with springs and ropes that can be adjusted to create resistance-based exercises using your own body weight. You lie down with your shoulders against padding and your feet on a bar and push up and down in different positions to strengthen different muscles. One of my favorites is when we put down the bar and put in a small platform for horizontal jumping, like on a trampoline, but youre lying down. Other machines include the Pilates Tower, Cadillac, Chair, and Barrel. Its kind of like learning to be your own marionette. It is super important to be trained on the machines before taking a group class. Also, the group classes should be small enough that the teacher can keep a close eye on everyones alignment, which is key. My trainer, certified Pilates instructor Amalia Massey, had a year and a half of training, including anatomy and foundational movement classes, before teaching me. In addition, she is a triathlete and could definitely do "Dancing With the Stars" with no stamina whatsoever. Some certified Pilates instructors have only a few weeks of training, so be sure and check them out before committing to $75 per hour and up sessions. I had three privates before joining a class. Otherwise I would not have known what I was doing on the machines. Amalias instructions Keep your tail down while pushing, and other tips helped me focus on my core when moving weights with my legs or arms. The machines give you feedback on moving symmetrically, Amalia points out.
One of the things that Amalia told me when I was struggling with balance was instead of worrying about falling and breaking your hip as you get older, prevent the fall. No one else had ever pointed that out. In other words, if you have good balance, you are far less likely to fall. I was focusing on taking calcium and getting bone scans, which are potentially helpful. But most helpful is not to fall at all. In just a month, my balance is so much better I bought a pair of 5-inch platform shoes that I have actually worn to Target for 15 minutes. So far, so good. Although I have realized I dont need to be 6 feet tall. I just need to maximize the spaces between my vertebrae and tuck in my tummy and butt, with the help of Pilates. Contributing writer Judy Kirkwood is getting balanced in Delray Beach.
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ThirdAge Health Close-up: Pilates
SHOOTING / SEASA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Hafiz guns down Sea Games champ
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Hafiz Adzha won the 25m rapid fire individual title yesterday. Pic by Goh Thean Howe
Hafiz edged reigning Sea Games champion Ha Minh Thanh of Vietnam 25-24 in the shoot-off in the final for the individual title while Macaus Chio Hong Chi took bronze.
Compatriot Hazli Izwan Amir Hasan had actually finished third but competition rules specify that one country can only earn one medal in each event.
Hafiz, together with Hazli and Khalel Abdullah, posted a combined 1,727 total to win the team gold followed by Vietnam (1,705) and Macau (1,588).
The victory over the Sea Games champion today (yesterday) gives me a huge boost ahead of next years Myanmar edition. Minh Thanh gave me anxious moments as he kept on putting the pressure on me, said Hafiz, who finished at last years Indonesia Sea Games, yesterday.
However, he cracked under pressure and I won the title by one shot. Vietnam protested but the jury, upon checking the targets, did not change the result.
Wishu Awaluddin then followed up with wins in the junior and team events.
RESULTS (Malaysia unless stated) Men's 25m rapid fire pistol individual: 1 Hafiz Adzha, 2 Ha Minh Tranh (Vie), 3 Chio Hong Chi (Mac); Team: 1 Malaysia 1,729, 2 Vietnam 1,705, 3 Macau 1,588.
Juniors 25m rapid fire pistol individual: 1 Mohd Wisnu Awaluddinn 558, 2 Lu My Long (Vie) 542; Team: 1 Malaysia 1,542, 2 Vietnam 1,615.
50m rifle prone individual: 1 Lin Aung (Mya) 694.7, 2 Phung Le Huyen (Vie) 689.2, 3 Mohd Shahril Sahak 687.8; Team: 1 Myanmar 1,759, 2 Vietnam 1,756,
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SHOOTING / SEASA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Hafiz guns down Sea Games champ
Uncle Ho's legacy lives on in Vietnam
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6 June 2012 Last updated at 19:32 ET By Viv Marsh BBC News
On an overcast morning in Hanoi, the queue stretches several hundred metres. Women dressed in traditional ao dai; schoolchildren in uniform jostling one another; grim-faced old men standing in silence; a few self-conscious Western tourists.
They are all waiting to see Vietnam's figurehead and Communist revolutionary leader, Ho Chi Minh - even though he has been dead for 43 years.
For the visitor, the enduring image of Ho Chi Minh may be the one he never wanted - the long shuffle through security checks around his mausoleum, culminating in a few seconds' hushed walk past his embalmed body. He himself wished to be cremated.
What would have been the late president's 122nd birthday this year, on 19 May, was marked by an exhibition of Ho Chi Minh documents in the province of Thai Nguyen and the launch of a translated biography, endorsed by the ruling Communist Party, entitled Ho Chi Minh - an Immortal Saint.
The 16-chapter book chronicling the late president's life and career was written by Thai social activist Suprida Phanomjong, the son of a former Thai prime minister, who is said to have had close connections to Ho Chi Minh.
State website VietNam News said the author had been "touched to see how the Vietnamese people worshipped the president".
The book's Vietnamese-language launch - six years after it first appeared in Thai - was attended by a leading Vietnamese propaganda official, Nguyen An Tiem.
The state-backed Voice of Vietnam website said the publication was "expected to help raise public awareness of Ho Chi Minh Thought and his moral examples", thus contributing towards "studying and following Ho Chi Minh's Moral Example campaign".
"The fact that he lived a fairly abstemious life and that he was devoted to the cause of his country, all those things are meant to be virtues that all Communists share," says Sophie Quinn-Judge, a scholar and biographer of Ho Chi Minh.
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Uncle Ho's legacy lives on in Vietnam
Eating Tips for Those Who Practice Yoga
Posted: at 11:17 am
Yoga is a fantastic form of exercise for gaining flexibility, and it is terrific for toning muscles. Certain foods are supreme to eat before participating in yoga. In addition, there are certain things one should avoid to be healthy from the inside out. If you are looking to enhance the benefits of yoga, try these eating tips.
Foods that those who practice yoga should avoid
Gwen Lawrence, a celeb yoga instructor, suggests eating properly so that one is healthy on both the inside and the out. She suggest that those who participate in yoga avoid the following things:
Foods that are white in color, such as those made with white flour, rice and pasta.
Foods that are processed, such as canned and frozen foods.
Foods that contain chemicals, such as food coloring (including tartrazine or cochineal) and MSG.
Lawrence also suggest that one not eat between the hours of 8 pm and 8 am, telling us that breakfast means "break the fast." In addition, she advises that those who want to be healthy avoid sugar.
Six superb snacks to eat before yoga
The following foods are excellent to eat before yoga:
Almonds: They will help supply you with energy and keep you from becoming hungry during yoga.
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Eating Tips for Those Who Practice Yoga
Excercise balls part 2 – Video
Posted: June 6, 2012 at 10:13 pm
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Excercise balls part 2 - Video
Ab excercise #2 “PIKE”.mov – Video
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Having a swim and a bit of excercise, 06.01.2012. – Video
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Having a swim and a bit of excercise, 06.01.2012. - Video
Ron practices an excercise with Mastermind student – Video
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AFTERNOON SWIM AND EXCERCISE, 06.04.2012 – Video
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AFTERNOON SWIM AND EXCERCISE, 06.04.2012 - Video
Practice Diagram CITD Excercise 1b – Video
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