Monthly Archives: February 2016

Staying healthy and physically fit is something that everyone needs to achieve throughout the course of their lifespan. From the moment you were able to learn how to crawl, stand up, walk, and run until the time that you will be using a cane or even a walker to support you in your mobility, there are simply some things that you can do to keep your body in tip-top shape appropriate for its age. Unfortunately, for many individuals who are already at the half century mark in their lives, keeping fit and staying healthy might be a little bit more challenging than it used to.

You have to understand that as you grow older, the different tissues in your body are no longer that tensile, no longer that elastic, and no longer that resilient as it used to be when you were still in your teens and 20s. Add to this the possible existence of cardiovascular, metabolic, and neuroendocrine disorders that may affect your ability to stay healthy. However, optimum nutrition and the appropriate exercises are needed for every age group. The key for those individuals who are already beyond the half century mark is to identify what physical exercises will best benefit them given their declining physiology.

Here are 6 very simple and truly enjoyable physical exercises that any individual beyond 50 years of age can safely perform. As always, it is best to seek the opinion of your medical doctor if you can perform any of these exercises.

Walking

By far the easiest and most practical way to keep fit, walking can also be enjoyable especially if you are going to take a walk with your loved one. However, you may need to either pick up the pace or walk for significantly longer distances every time you set out. A nice goal will to walk at a 5 mph pace, gradually increasing it to tolerable levels. Walking is excellent for cardiovascular endurance. Because the exertion is not that intense, it should not burden your heart so much even if you have a cardiac problem. However, it is always best to seek your doctor’s advice if you have a cardiac problem.

Tai Chi and Qigong

A Mayo Clinic study revealed that fall injuries account for more than 35 percent of all injuries experienced by individuals aged 65 and above. And while you may still be in your 50s, do not underestimate the need for balance. This is the essence of Tai Chi and Qigong. Many refer to them as one and the same. However, Tai Chi is more inclined to movements necessary to train in the martial arts. Qigong, on the other hand, has movements that are designed primarily for healing. Unfortunately still, many Westerners simply look at one as essentially the same thing as the other. Nonetheless, the graceful movements of both Qigong and Tai Chi can be used to improve balance, enhance focus and concentration, develop stronger muscles, and stabilize mental wellness. The exercises helps individuals to relax, improve posture, and coordinate their mind and body.

Pilates

One way to improve muscle strength while at the same time enhancing overall flexibility, economy of motion, and agility is to engage in Pilates. Originally intended to help dancers stay fit, Pilates has now a growing number of followers in the senior population because of its benefits in improving posture and the stabilization of the different joints of the body. Some studies have also reported Pilates as particularly effective in the alleviation of symptoms of certain chronic conditions such as low back pain.

Yoga

Some call it meditation exercises. However, yoga is more than simple meditation. It teaches you to be more conscious of what your body is telling you. It involves stretching and relaxation intended to provide you with a calmer mind, a more physically fit body, and more relaxed. Yoga has been shown to improve cardiovascular functioning as well as improve the flow of air into the respiratory passages and the lungs.

Biking

Considered a much more intense form of cardiovascular endurance training, biking has the added advantage of maintaining optimum muscle tone in the lower legs as well as improved circulation. This can help prevent venous stasis that can significantly affect overall blood circulation. Additionally, since the leg muscles continue to be worked out, they are able to continue providing support and balance to the rest of the upper body.

Swimming

Taking several laps on a swimming pool at least 30 minutes every single day should keep your heart staying healthy and fit. Additionally, your lungs will also be trained to expand with more air as you try to regulate your breathing. The muscles in your legs and your arms can be developed further and your swim movements make an excellent exercise for joint mobility.

Reaching the half century mark should not stop you from maintaining physical fitness, mental soundness, and emotional stability. However, it is often important to seek the advice of your primary care physician if you can perform the exercise that you want. If not, these 6 exercises listed here are generally safe.

A huge portion of the global female population would want to be blonde, and spend money, effort and time just to get that light, golden colour. It’s not really common for a naturally blonde-haired girl to head to the best hair colourist in Melbourne CBD area to transform into a brunette, or a redhead. However, some girls are in for a challenging change and just want to add a more vibrant colour to their lives, literally or not. Sometimes, a little vibrancy can brighten up not just our crowning glories, but our personality and perspective. Sometimes, all you really need is a little change.

So, how do you add a splash of colour to your blonde mane?

Well, one might think that it’s as simple as buying your hair colour of choice, applying it to your tresses, rinse it, and wait. Actually, it’s a little bit more complicated than expected. Depending on the lightness and shade of your blonde hair, it can end up becoming green or some other weird colour without proper application and guidance. But, there is no need to worry. With this blonde hair colour guide, nothing can go wrong.

Dyeing Your Blonde Hair 

For people who have blonde hair, there would be a yellow base tone under the colour that can be seen. The cool tones in your hair are responsible for neutralizing this yellow and providing an ash blonde or golden blonde colour. These cool tones are essential, even for a shade of golden brown, as without these tones, the hair would just be a fluorescent colour of yellow from the base pigment.

So, to simply apply hair dye to blonde hair will be problematic. The dye would not take the yellow base of your hair into account.

For instance, brown hair should have a red or an orange base. Hair dyes in the shade of ash brown have green and blue pigments that can work with red tones, so when used after bleaching black hair, or to tone out mahogany or vibrant red colours to a darker shade, ash brown hair dye works fine. But, to a blonde, who does not have red or orange tones, this shade of dye can be overpowering and result in dark grey or worse, murky green hair.

So, for someone with blonde hair without any red tone, the use of ash dye can be a big mistake. This proves that simply choosing a dye can lead to a colour you did not expect when dyeing your blonde hair.

How to Avoid a Hair Colour Mistake

Anyone who wants to dye his or her hair should be careful in choosing what dye to use. Two easy ways to avoid unwanted mistakes are to fill your blonde hair and use a warmer shade.

When filling your blonde hair, be sure to pre-pigment it. Fill it with a gold or red tone to prepare it for the application of your colour of choice. With this, the necessary tone for the new hair colour is applied to your hair and you will achieve the correct colour.

You could also opt for a warmer shade of hair dye. With this method, however, the colour will be lighter and have less copper and red pigment than the actual hair colour you used.

Dyeing With a Warmer Shade

Aside from filling the hair with the appropriate tone, you could also use a warmer shade than the colour you desire. For example, you could use a natural brown dye if you want an ash brown colour. The natural brown dye has the extra red tones needed to achieve an ash brown colour if you are blonde.

If you want a cooler shade of brown, you could use a shade that is one tone warmer than the shade you are aiming for.

Mahogany and burgundy hair dyes are exception to this rule. These colours have red and violet tones that can result to more of a purple shade. The yellow tones in blonde hair can work with violet tones in such a way that shades are redder than how they are meant to be. If this is a problem, you could use a violet intensifier to your burgundy and mahogany colours, to intensify the purple shade.

Remember Hair Colouring Basics

Colouring your blonde hair also requires remembering the basics of hair colouring. General hair colouring tips include finding the right hue for your complexion, never treating your roots and your end the exact same way, applying the colour in small sections starting from the top and working your way to the sides, and proceeding to the back, combing your hair once done to ensure the colour is evenly distributed, keeping in mind that it is best to colour your hair when it has been washed 24 hour prior and rinsing out the colourant when you are done dyeing.

To Be Sure, Head to a Pro

Whether it’s your first time to dye your golden hair or not, it’s always advisable to go to an expert to have it done. Our locks are our crowning glory and we all want it to end up the way we visualized it. What are you waiting for? Get up and go to the best hair colourist in Melbourne CBD area and let them turn that blonde into va va voom!

As women age, the metabolic rate slows down and that indicates you are burning less calories unlike many years ago. There is actually no specific age for this, although it seems to be apparent when a woman reaches her 40s. Aging is also associated with weight gain. The metabolism makes up about 70% of the total amount of calories you burn on a daily basis. Therefore, if this process changes due to slowing down, then you are burning much less calories as compared to when you were younger. Over time, these calories accumulate, which will cause you to gain weight.

Equally important as maintaining a healthy diet in order to lose weight, exercise is another key element as you grow older. Physical fitness generally benefits everyone, but it significantly benefits women over 40. As your body matures, you start to lose muscle mass, which is one of the primary factors behind the slowing rate of metabolism.  Basically, the more muscle mass in the body, the higher its basal metabolic rate.

Regular exercise for women over 40 will help strengthen the muscles, burn more calories and increase the metabolic process. It is best to adopt an exercise routine of 30 to 40 minutes a day, for about three to four times a week to help you toward weight loss and healthy body. Choose an exercise that is suitable for your abilities and body condition, then try to make it fun for your sake.

Elliptical Training

The elliptical machine is normally easier on the body, and that is considerably helpful for those who have knee, joint and lower back pains. Your pulse speeds up while doing the elliptical training, which is in fact higher than when you use the treadmill. You obtain all the heart pumping benefits of the machine, but without the pounding.

 Core Workout

While you should have begun strengthening your core muscles when you were in your thirties, it is never too late to begin now. Your core muscles that run through your stomach to your back, are vital in treating or preventing back pain, as well as in maintaining good posture. A professional trainer will make sure you are performing the core exercises properly, otherwise you may find yourself injuring your back area, instead of keeping it strong.

Strength Training

It is one of the most effective ways to offset bone and muscle reduction. Body weight exercises such as planks, push-ups and squats are all excellent workout routines to increase endurance and strength, plus they help boost the heart rate.

Pilates

Pilates provides a full body exercise that improves flexibility and strength, which makes it an excellent option for women over 40 who wish to have a fit body as they age. It is a bit demanding, but it is not the sort of exercise that will make you sweaty and exhausted. Pilates is all about breathing and concentration. However, your muscles will certainly feel it during every exercise.

Swimming

Now is the time that you should be doing 20 to 30 minutes of regular cardio exercise for three to five days every week. Swimming is an efficient way to acquire that cardio exercise, without having to stress your joints. It is a complete body workout that burns a huge amount of calories. Swimming covers everything, which includes toning your arms and back, without having to put on weight. The physical activities in the pool are endless. Other than using all four strokes, you could pull, kick or make use of the wall for your push-ups.

Cardio Exercise

Besides its blood sugar controlling and heart health benefits, cardio workouts help in improving memory and brain function. Perform cardio exercises for about 60 minutes, three times a week to help improve the blood circulation to a portion of the brain that is linked to better cognition in late years.

Yoga

Yoga is focused entirely on flexibility, and it is an excellent way to de-stress, especially with the family and work lifestyle of busy women in their 40s. Yoga does a lot more than calorie burning and muscle toning. It is a total body and mind exercise which combines stretching and strengthening poses together with meditation or deep breathing.

Biking

Either on a standard bike outdoor, or on the fitness bike at the gym, biking is an effective way to obtain a cardio workout without stressing your ankles or knees. Your muscles receive a boost, too. Riding a bike tones up your hips, thighs and buttocks. If you are having a weight problem, something such as biking that is not pounding on your joints is definitely the right exercise.

Jogging

In case your joints can still take the pressure, it is a good idea to jog for your cardio exercise routine. The benefits of jogging includes the body and mind. Several studies have shown that jogging increased life expectancy. Moreover, it helps in decreasing the risk of osteoporosis.

As you reach the age of 40, exercise is an essential part of maintaining a healthy body. It does not only lessen the risk of heart disease and diabetes, it also provides endorphins and energy to enable you to lead a happier life.