Ask our Fitness Enthusiast! Week 1 - How to get started! April 5 - 11, 2021

Absolutely!  One of the best benefits of weight lifting is the development of the brain-body connection, and you can do that without weights in your hands!  Moving slowing through the motions of "weighted" work - even with empty hands - will strengthen your muscles and bones in a very similar way.

This is a great question, and specifically, it's a great question for your physical therapist!  When it comes to injuries or mobility limitations, it's best to speak with someone who knows YOU and your particular issues.  While lots of fitness trainers can give general advice, if you want to see actual strengthening in your muscles, you'll want personal attention.

Terrific question!  There are all sorts of exercises that you can do for your arms with 5-lb weights!  Some of my personal favorites are things like flys, rows and curls (this combination of just three exercises will tone and strengthen your whole upper body, in fact!)

If you'd like to see how to do exercises like this, I'll recommend one of my full-length follow along workouts on YouTube:  TONED ARMS Walk with light hand weights 

I understand that getting cardio exercise is important - but I find that even my regular walking, yoga and swimming are not doing that. Any suggestions?

This is such a great question!  My personal preference is to work the whole body twice a week.  Generally speaking, when you break your workouts down into specific body parts, you'd be working with weights four, five or even six times a week to get every part of your body, and I'd rather do cardio on those days!  😂

Thanks for your patience!  🙂 Do you have a specific fitness question that I can help you with?  

Great question!  If you have a specific issue with your knees, your absolute best bet is to talk to your doctor and request physical therapy.  A physical therapist will be able to determine your exact issue and recommend targeted exercises that are best suited for YOU.

If your query is more general, rest assured that ANY type of regular exercise done with good form will strengthen ALL parts of your body, including the muscles around your knees! 

It sounds like you might enjoy a regular WALKING routine!  Walking is a fantastic exercise that has so many benefits, and it's incredibly simple. 

Getting started is easy, too:  you can walk in place inside your house for 5 to 10 minutes a day to get used to the motion and stay safe.  When that becomes a daily habit, you can expand your horizons by taking it outside and going a little longer.

Over time, walking will strengthen your leg muscles (which can reduce pain in your knees) and - along with eating the right number of calories each day - help you lose weight, too.

Enjoy!!

Great question!  There are LOTS of options for chair yoga workouts on YouTube, where you can watch and follow along for free!  A quick search came up with hundreds of results.  My suggestion is to click on a few of them and see if you like the instructions and whether or not it feels easy to follow along.  Here are the search results:  Chair Yoga on YouTube