Balance Your WorkoutBalance Your Workout Cornell McClellan in the Chicago Sun-Tribune February 17, 2010, uses an analogy to explain how important it is to balance your workout. I couldn't have said it better myself. "Think of your body as a car. The four wheels of the car are: • Aerobic exercises • Strength training • Flexibility exercises • Smart nutritional choices To make your body run smoothly, you have to make sure all four wheels are functioning properly. It doesn't matter if two or even three of the wheels are in good repair if the fourth wheel is almost flat. The car won't run, and you will be spinning your wheels in the dirt." As we reach menopause it is even more important to balance all the different aspects of working out. Most women seem to put the emphasis on cardiovascular health and nutrition as they age. This is, of course, very important. They do this through walking faster and more often and paying better attention to the food they are putting in their mouths. That's great. But, often stretching and strength-training are missing. Without proper stretching as part of our routine we are more prone to injuries and to fatigue. Proper stretching means warming up the body with cardiovascular exercises and then gently holding the stretches for 15-30 seconds each. Relax, and repeat. Stretch every muscle in the body. Yoga is a good choice if you are unsure of how to stretch. Secondly, many women neglect strength-training because they think of this as something men do, or they don't see the importance of it. As we age our bodies lose muscle mass. This can lead to a less toned look, and also, it can lead to weakness, fatigue and weight gain. Muscles burn more calories than fat even when we are resting. So, when we lose muscle mass as a natural part of aging we automatically gain weight if we are eating exactly the same number of calories we always ate.
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